Saturday, May 3, 2008

Never Judge a Book by its Cover

I work part time at our local library. I began there last year when The Professor was on sabbatical, and as it was a pleasant job and amused me, I continued. I haven't had many jobs where I work directly with the public, so it's been interesting to note the various slices of life that pass my way.

When you work in a library, you get an insight into the character of the person taking out the books. People definitely have their preferences, however odd they may be, and I've seen more than my share of unusual titles. I did have a good one this week, however. A quiet, nondescript woman in her early thirties approached my desk with a very large, full bag. She began unloading a LOT of books, and I realized that they were all rather tawdry romance novels. She continued to empty this enormous tote bag of lady porn (I was pleased to see that she was using a reusable bag. See - being green can be sexy!) without batting an eye. The following conversation then ensued:

Me: You have an overdue book; would you like me to renew it for you?

Her: Yes, thank you. What's the title?

Me: (Quietly and after a short hesitation) Her Sexiest Mistake.

Her: (Without batting an eye) Oh no - I've returned that in this pile. (And she proceeded to dig it out of the giant pile of books with pictures on the cover that were definitely of the raunchy persuasion and hand it to me.)

At this point, my mind is wandering, because I'm thinking, "I wonder what exactly WAS her sexiest mistake? And, the title suggests that while there may have been other sexy mistakes, this one was by far the sexiest. What WOULD make a mistake the sexiest?" My mind reeled with the possibilities, but as she had collected another tall stack of books of the same persuasion, I needed to focus on the task at hand, lest I make a mistake, which I had a feeling would not be even remotely sexy.

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