Uploaded: 4 years ago
Views: 3,280
File size: 39.73 KiB
MIME Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Comments: 26
Favorites: 30
Clawdette Smalls is back at work after the end of quarantine and businesses start reopening. But with the outside world still far from safe and the library resorting to curbside pickup only, the job has started to present new levels of frustration. Not the best situation for a highly carnivorous little fox who is already frustrated over not being able to eat people do to safety concerns...
My fourteenth Miss Smalls story.
Start of Season 2.
Please login to post a comment.
Posted by ShadowDM 4 years ago Report
This was an amazing read.
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
Oh thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm excited to be working on the Miss Smalls series again.
Posted by TheDarkTraveler 4 years ago Report
Just 3 paragaphs in reading about people's inablity to follow insturctions and I already sympostise with you. In my job people think just because I am meeting them outside and because i am wearing a mask they can stand as close to me as they like. And just because we did things one way last year that it works the same this year so they don't need to read the instuctions on where to stand, where to take things and where to put them back.
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
Yeah, I think I've said this before, but Clawdette Smalls has pretty much become an autobiographical representation of me at this point. (Well... almost... I'm not an amoral sociopath! I swear!) Like her, I really am more prone to getting sick than most people. My immune system is absolute garbage. So I am a little more paranoid and over protective of myself during things like a mass illness than other people. Other people don't have as much of a need to protect themselves as I do. The problem is that just because others aren't as likely to get infected, doesn't mean they can't very easily infect me instead. People don't stop to think about that. So others not following the instructions put in place are really frustrating for me. And as a real life librarian, I have in fact dealt with all of the things Clawdette dealt with in this story. This story was pretty much my last week at work. Aside from the whole getting swallowed thing...
Posted by TheDarkTraveler 4 years ago Report
I wish you luck
Posted by TheDarkTraveler 4 years ago Report
“Yeah, I’m confused…” a man’s voice replied.
“Okay, what can I help you with?” I asked.
“Well I’m standing outside your door and there’s a big closed sign in the window and the doors are locked… Are you open?”
You made me literally facepalm
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
That honest to god happened to me last week. There was no way I couldn't include it in a story.
Posted by TheDarkTraveler 4 years ago Report
Great story.
Posted by unicorn 4 years ago Report
Got up this morning and saw a new Miss Smalls story, what a treat <3
This one triggered my anxiety though, it's just too relatable xD
But it was excellent as always nevertheless!
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
Ah, sorry about that. Seeing as Miss Smalls and I have the same job, these stories are occasionally a way for me to vent about stuff I've been dealing with. And considering we're all kind of dealing with the same stuff right now, I can see it being too relatable. But I promise the rest of the season won't just be about this kind of stuff.
Posted by unicorn 4 years ago Report
Unrelatedly, Anny is cute :D Would love to see her reappear in future chapters!
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
Oh! Thanks for reminding me~ I still need to finish the three part Anny Mini-series that only has one part posted so far... God, I'm such a slacker...
Posted by KevinK1993 4 years ago Report
@helenarlet Well... that was certainly a read. Not sure if there's much else I can say except for two things.
One: You've made a well-written (and entertaining) story out of something that might have been seen in a blog post or a journal entry. I appreciate that.
Two: While I'm on the subject, I can also appreciate that you've found a way to vent your frustrations in a safe, constructive manner instead of taking them out on actual people.
By the way, this is not an insult to you, nor is it meant to be one or to come off, as such.
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
When you tell people you're a librarian, people tend to be like, "Oh that sounds like a nice peaceful job. I'd love to have a quiet job where I could just sit around and read all day." To which anyone who has ever spent any length of time working in a library will instantly laugh in your face the moment they hear. It's like, let me tell you about the porn stash in the restroom ceiling, or the time some kid flooded the entire library in sewage... Let me tell you the ballad of Tree Boy, or the story of the woman who cussed us out for 7 straight minutes because we were holding the DVD she claimed she still had at home. Do you know the legend of the Summer Reading carpet stain, or the disciplinary staff meeting where speaking was forbidden? Have you ever had someone threaten to take you to court because they didn't want to pay a ten cent late fee? Or had someone threaten to hang themselves because you wouldn't let them check out a book without a library card? How many times a day do you have to call the cops? Do you truly understand the depths of human stupidity the way I do?
So yeah, I write about my job and make light of it. Because if I don't, I'm going to drink myself to sleep at night. Also it's pretty entertaining if you didn't have to live through it yourself.
Posted by KevinK1993 4 years ago Report
@helenarlet Sounds to me like the library you're working for (or possibly once worked for) has some... problems if what you've said is anything to go by.
On that, allow me to ask one question: Has the thought of relocating to another library in another county/state ever crossed your mind, given what you've said, so far?
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
What I have described is actually pretty standard library stuff. Talking with other librarians in other libraries in internet groups, it's all pretty much the same thing. People just don't realize what librarians have to put up with and deal with every day.
And transferring to a different library is... Tricky... Most libraries require a college degree to do even the simplest entry level jobs. Some won't even hire you to stand at a desk and check out books to people without a masters degree. I know... I've checked job listings... And why would I want to spend all the time and money of getting a master's degree just to get paid minimum wage doing what is basically the same job as a cashier at Barnes & Noble? That's just a poor life choice...
I'm lucky in that I work at a small town library where the only position that requires that is the Library Director. If I tried to move to a different library, I would have a really hard time finding one that would allow me to do any of the stuff I currently do without going back to school first. Unless I got hired in some tiny little dirtball town in the middle of nowhere... A friend of mine I used to work with moved to a big city and tried to get hired on at a library there. Even with her years of experience already doing the job, they wouldn't hire her because she didn't have a masters. She ended up running a cash register at a grocery store...
The library world is complicated and hellish, and unless you just have a real passion for it, I wouldn't recommend the job for anyone.
Posted by KevinK1993 4 years ago Report
@helenarlet Hmm. To think that one would need a Master's Degree just to work in a library.
I always thought that Master's Degrees would be reserved for jobs that would need extensive levels of knowledge on a particular subject like medicine or law. Subjects like that.
By the way, I asked my previous question out of curiosity. Not to insult you or anything.
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
I'm not insulted. Like I said, I have actually looked into transferring somewhere else before. I don't want to live in this town I'm in for the rest of my life. But yeah... every library is different on what they require, and so far all the ones I've found job openings at are kind of insane.
Posted by KevinK1993 4 years ago Report
@helenarlet Where would be the ideal place for you to travel / retire to... if you could?
Posted by helenarlet 4 years ago Report
On one hand, I grew up in Florida and wouldn't mind going back. I enjoy the scenery and the wildlife down there. But on the other hand, Florida is still a red state and not the safest place for a gray-asexual trans woman married to another woman... Although a friend in Minnesota tells me that up there would be an ideal place for someone like myself so that's a strong option.
Posted by TobyFloof 3 years ago Report
The ending tho ????????????
Posted by TobyFloof 3 years ago Report
Crap i guess i cant put emojis in my comments from now on lol
Posted by helenarlet 3 years ago Report
What about the ending?
Posted by TobyFloof 3 years ago Report
Oh it was really cute and funny lol
Posted by doomed 3 years ago Report
This story works so well. It encompasses the feeling of working during the pandemic. As well as it gives clawdette a mental shock to force her to start acknowledging her own failings. Though not enough to change her immediately. It is enough to start the ball rolling on her becoming a better person