Librarians are just freaky. In case you are wondering, it is important that I clearly define what librarians I'm talking about. I am not talking about student librarians who join the library just to enjoy aircon and unlimited internet access (definitely not for the books); that's just being plain lazy and greedy. I am, however, talking about librarians who love to wear pieces of cloths that stick to your body so tight people from afar are exclaiming out loud where's that dumpling heading to. They are ones that will stalk every single student that enters the library, have the ability to lip read and can be by your side the moment you open your mouth to talk to the person nearest to you at 2 decibels before you can even say 'I'.
I am sure that everyone has met such librarians. It's almost like a application criteria. I can almost imagine the application form for a librarian: must be notorious, and more importantly, must be unreasonable and not allow people to talk because people won't want to talk to you.
Let me share 1 such librarian with you: THE GREAT WHITE SHARK.
Nobody knows what's her real identity. No one knows where she lives (but since she's called TGWS, I'll assume she lives along Pacific Ocean Ave 11 On the Right Side of the coral reef but that's not the point) and what are her hobbies. Initially, I was quite puzzled as to why people call her TGWS. Let's face it: she's not entirely white, though she certainly does look great. She's probably in her 50s(?) albeit she looks a tad 80. She dyed her hair to some colour that I cannot recognise but then again, I have never been given the title of a fashion pro. But God have mercy on the students who enter the library, because she snaps at every single one of them. It's like roach motel: You check in but you can't check out.
During her free time, she patrols the library like it's her territory even though it's so quiet I could hear that the cleaners are cleaning the toilets on the 4th floor. We're not even allowed to whisper in the library for crying out loud's sake. Imagine her at a hawker center: she'll probably pass out from all the noise. When she finds an unfortunate target, she crosses her arms(or should I say armsssssssssssssss) and proceeds to walk over to the poor soul. No wonder the student population has been decreasing. God Bless.
As Mdm Yaty has been telling us, it is always always impressive to counter a point in your essay. Maybe it's just me, but isn't she making more noise when she walks around and asks people to shut up?
The most ridiculous rule that the library adheres to sooooo strictly to has got to be the rule that we are not allowed to bring our bags in. I remember vividly it was a faithful afternoon last year when Ning Xing and I entered the library. Ning Xing was carrying her violin bag which was humongous and impossible to fit into the lockers that they provide. We politely told her this but did she listen? No she didn't.
"No you cannot bring it in. You cannot bring it in. Use the locker. Use the locker."
We proceeded to repeat ourselves twice but did she listen? Obviously not.
"No you cannot bring it in. You cannot bring it in. Use the locker. Use the locker."
As they say, old dogs cannot learn new tricks.
She also seems to have taken in an accomplice. I thought the new librarian was quite pleasant when I first talked to her but recently, she seems to have taken on a whole new level of vindictiveness. No prizes for guessing who she got it from!
While librarians all over the world are terrorising young children and eliminating all interest in books from such innocent kids, those that have been on the receiving end of such un-called for injustice should band together and stand up against them. But meanwhile, Mr Steven Spielberg, if you happen to be reading this entry and pondering about the new cast for JAWS RETURNS, you're on the right track.
To end off with a paradox: A small library, a big librarian.
