Men Don’t Ask Directions

A little girl, maybe 3, walked up to the desk with an armload of books, but freed one of them enough to point and say, “That . . . that boy can’t find any books about aircraft carriers.”

I looked to the side and saw said boy, maybe 5, standing silently and not reacting. “Is that what you’re looking for, aircraft carriers?” Slight nod.

I started doing a search with my computer while my deskmate engaged the girl in more conversation. “Is that boy your brother?" Nod. "Does he have a name?” . . .

Found a book in the computer, walked out to the shelves, located it, and handed it to him. He silently took it and went off to show his family.

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And sometimes I just don't get people. A woman just asked if we have a section for books that rhyme. She'd been at a computer, so I said no section, but there's a subject heading for rhyming and we could pull up a list in the catalog; but they wouldn't all be together, instead dispersed through the section. She said she'd rather just look herself, and is now randomly pulling books off the shelf and reading them to see if they rhyme.