If you want to learn about normal people, work at a library

Librarians carry the weight of society's issues - they are in the business of putting bandaid's on people's problems, trying to help the individual who's been screwed over by everything wrong with America

Librarians are expected to solve every problem that comes through the door and trust me, there's a LOT

You'd be shocked at the number of people who come to the library for help because they have no one else to turn to

In a year at the library, I...

- taught elderly people how to use a computer + mouse for the first time EVER

- helped a woman reset her Facebook password after she was hacked (her grandson refused to help her out of teenage spite)

- helped a man find out if his brother was in any local hospitals

- taught someone how to use a typewriter for a required court document

- called all of the homeless shelters to see if there were openings for a young woman new to town

- consoled a woman who had had a gun pulled on her in a parking lot while walking 3 miles to the library

- created a Facebook business page for a woman selling homemade tie-dye t-shirts

- proofread a lawyers cover letter for a position with the United Nations

- helped an illiterate bus boy apply for new jobs because his girlfriend was pregnant

- talked to an old man on the phone every week for an hour (called in under the pretense of research questions, really just wanted company)

- entertained kids whose parents had dropped them off at the library in the morning and wouldn't come pick them up till we closed

- called the police when a dead body was found in the stairwell (I didn't see it, thank God)

- cleaned up countless crumbs and messes from people eating because it's the only indoor space available to them

- made a man a cup of coffee who hadn't had hot coffee in months

- made a grocery list and found coupons for a mom trying to stretch $5 for her child's birthday cake

- helped a man write a letter to his former employer begging for his job back after he got lyme disease and couldn't work for 6 months

- bought bus tickets to Florida for a homeless man who was heading south for the warmth

- taught people Excel in the evenings when their employers demanded they learn it but didn't provide any training

- helped immigrants apply for green cards

and on and on and on

Librarians are the true generalists, of this I am sure. It's a heartbreaking and rewarding job at the same time - there's joy in helping people but there is anger that these problems exist in the first place

Anyway, thank your local librarian and have a good day