making peace with the gate
As most of you probably know, I work part time at the school library. There's not much to it, I sit at the circulation desk and check out books, help sign in visitors to the library, pick up the phone, and sign up people to use the study rooms.
Then there's the matter of the gate. We have a really beautiful library that is under five years old and so the administration has done much to protect and preserve its lovely condition. Last year they decided to install an electronic gate at the entrance, making the library accessible to only those with active ID cards. It's kind of a pain to swipe in because most people wouldn't keep their ID card in easy access to whip out to swipe when entering the library, and a lot of people end up halting in front of the gate to dig through their wallets and backpacks to find their card. Adding to the adventure is the fact that the card swiper is not that sensitive and it sometimes takes a few good swipes (imagine a credit card terminal) in order for the gate to finally recognize that you are allowed in and it will cheerfully beep and swing open its arms to let you in. If you try to break through the gate and just push through, it sets off a dreadful alarm. If you try to get more than one person through the gate per swipe, then it sets off that same alarm. One swipe, one person.
I thought I was being really cool and suave last year when I tried to get in on my friend's one swipe but I ended up getting scolded by the guy at the circulation desk. "Hey. Could you PLEASE not do that and just use your own ID card to get in? You can imagine that it gets REALLY old to hear that alarm all day." At the time I balked at his inflexibility and was miffed that he took such personal offense, but of course, that was all before I myself took on a part time job at the library and had the wonderful privilege of being master of the gate.
And as you can imagine, he was right. That darn alarm did get really irritating after the first few times that it went off because someone was trying to be sly with the gate. Worse, for every ten people that tried to get into the library, three of them would forget their ID cards and stand there expectantly in front of the gate as they waited for the desk attendant to buzz them in. I tried to be sweet about it but after awhile it grated on my nerves because about half of them never seemed apologetic about it.
Now I concede that hey, that is what I get paid for: to man the circulation desk. Manning the circulation desk entails dealing with the gate.
I'm trying to be nicer with the gate because it's not the people's fault that they happen to be the third person in a row that has set off the alarm. It's been rather eye opening to see how negatively I deal with the gate and with people checking out study rooms. Gosh this all sounds really petty and small of me. Yikes. At any rate, I'm starting to calm down more and surprisingly, I think I've learned a lot about being more easy going and patient. I used to think that dealing with children and teaching children was a real test in patience - now that I've experienced the gate, I think that that is much more trying.
Then there's the matter of the gate. We have a really beautiful library that is under five years old and so the administration has done much to protect and preserve its lovely condition. Last year they decided to install an electronic gate at the entrance, making the library accessible to only those with active ID cards. It's kind of a pain to swipe in because most people wouldn't keep their ID card in easy access to whip out to swipe when entering the library, and a lot of people end up halting in front of the gate to dig through their wallets and backpacks to find their card. Adding to the adventure is the fact that the card swiper is not that sensitive and it sometimes takes a few good swipes (imagine a credit card terminal) in order for the gate to finally recognize that you are allowed in and it will cheerfully beep and swing open its arms to let you in. If you try to break through the gate and just push through, it sets off a dreadful alarm. If you try to get more than one person through the gate per swipe, then it sets off that same alarm. One swipe, one person.
I thought I was being really cool and suave last year when I tried to get in on my friend's one swipe but I ended up getting scolded by the guy at the circulation desk. "Hey. Could you PLEASE not do that and just use your own ID card to get in? You can imagine that it gets REALLY old to hear that alarm all day." At the time I balked at his inflexibility and was miffed that he took such personal offense, but of course, that was all before I myself took on a part time job at the library and had the wonderful privilege of being master of the gate.
And as you can imagine, he was right. That darn alarm did get really irritating after the first few times that it went off because someone was trying to be sly with the gate. Worse, for every ten people that tried to get into the library, three of them would forget their ID cards and stand there expectantly in front of the gate as they waited for the desk attendant to buzz them in. I tried to be sweet about it but after awhile it grated on my nerves because about half of them never seemed apologetic about it.
Now I concede that hey, that is what I get paid for: to man the circulation desk. Manning the circulation desk entails dealing with the gate.
I'm trying to be nicer with the gate because it's not the people's fault that they happen to be the third person in a row that has set off the alarm. It's been rather eye opening to see how negatively I deal with the gate and with people checking out study rooms. Gosh this all sounds really petty and small of me. Yikes. At any rate, I'm starting to calm down more and surprisingly, I think I've learned a lot about being more easy going and patient. I used to think that dealing with children and teaching children was a real test in patience - now that I've experienced the gate, I think that that is much more trying.
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