Newsgroups: bit.listserv.circplus
Date:         Sat, 3 Oct 1992 03:15:14 CDT
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         kendall <KSIMMONS%UKANVM.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:      Re: The Questions We Answer!
              3 Oct 1992 01:28:49 -0500 from <JONESS@GANDLF.UINDY.EDU>

My "favorite" story about floors comes from over 10 years ago.  The
entrance to the main library is (and was) the third floor.  We also
have 8 floors of stacks.  We had been doing a lot of shifting because of
renovation.  A student had gotten into the habit of "hiding" his briefcase
below a range of shelves.  Well, contrary to what you might think, we didn't sh
ift on that floor.  BUT, he forgot what floor he'd been doing this on, so he
came to Circ wanting to know what had happened to his briefcase.  ??????
He didn't believe us...told us that now there was an entire floor of empty shel
ves and his briefcase was gone.  He wanted to know who stole it.  As we had NOT
done any shifting in that area, I suggested that he had the wrong floor.
Absolutely not, according to him.  He wanted to know who had been shelving on
that floor that day (remember, this was the empty floor).  Anyway, he found
out that one of our African-American workers was working there...you can
imagine his next reaction.  Racist garbage.  And I was having none of it.
The only work being done was setting shelves.  There hadn't been any books
on the floor he was talking about for 2 weeks.  I kept telling the fool that
he was thinking about the wrong floor if he had been stashing his briefcase
under a range full of books.  He kept telling me that we must have shifted
that range since he left the day before.

Well, the jerk finally decided that I wasn't going to be "helpful" so he
wanted to talk with the dean.  The dean ended up thowing him outof his office.
So, a pissed-off,stupid person and I walked down the stairs from the 5th
floor whileI kept trying to convince him to check other floors because we
had NOT shifted any book and, no, this African-American kid was NOT a thief.

This is the only time in my life that I have been glad that I have lousy knees.
(Which were a lot better ten years ago.)  I walk down stairs holding on to
the handrail.  And this SOB, while I was trying to convince him that he was
looking for his briefcase on the wrong floor, got pissed and tried to push me
down the stairs.  Literally.  It was  "you're trying to cover up for that
nigger" and he slammed his hand into my shoulder.  I started to fall but
caught myself.  He ran.  I wish I could have 'cuz I'd have killed him.

As it turns out, we were still using security students then and this jerk
left the library shortly thereafter WITH HIS BRIEFCASE.  Never saw the
jerk again.  But our policy about this sort of action came into  existence
within days, and got sent to the dean as a "this is what we're doing now",
not a "may we please do this?"

As a rsult, I try to make it REALLY clear to all my staff and our students
that they do NOT get paid enough to be threatened and that calling the cops,
leaving the situation, screaming for help, whatever is the option they
should chose if they feel threatened.  And they have called.  But not all.
Which really concerns me.   I'm afraid that they don't take that option as
REALLY open to them.  How do you folk handle that ?

Well, it's 4 am Saturday morning and I get to stop (darn) babysitting my
baby granddaugher as her parents just showed up so I guess it's time to go
to bed.

P.S.  I filed a police report against the SOB but he's never been arested.

Kendall