A public library is supposed to be a quiet space, least
ways, according to legend and to the cranky old guys who only come in to read
the daily news. Me, I have been a proponent of the “noisy school of
librarianship” for almost thirty years. For me, noise and the hallowed halls of
silent bookish behavior parted ways ages ago. When I used to be a children’s
librarian I would walk around my branch with a small sleigh bell attached to my
keychain, ring-ring-ringing everywhere I went. Was it there to help my boss
know where I was in the building? Nope, it was there because I equated noise
with bigger, more robust business. I felt, way back then, in the Stone Age of
librarianship, that we needed to open up our world to regular folks, not just “library
patrons”. We needed to view our building not as a library, a sanctuary of peace and quiet
but one of excitement and busy activity, a community center. If we wanted to bring in the business we dreamed of we needed to be open for business, and open meant welcoming crowds, and bringing in those crowds,
especially ones not savvy to the ways of libraries, meant being willing to embrace noise and a touch of chaos.
Today was the reaping of all that I sowed years ago. “Noisy
as hell” is how I posted it on Facebook today, not a bad assumption on my part.
Even from my perch in the teen room I knew that there must have been some sort
of children’s programming here today as the kids were wild, the parents largely
absent and the walls echoed with the noisy refrains of unsupervised children.
Now, why is all this civic information showing up here on a mota inspired
website? Well, this morning, for the first time in many months, I was able to
dose myself with a bit of tincture. Now, it has been awhile since I’ve indulged
so I went mild, super mild, just like the “mild” sauce is from Taco Bell, the kind that my
house kid favors. Instead of noshing on an edible or taking a vape hit I decided to do some Terrapin Balance, a 50/50 product, instead. I wanted my controlled light dose of THC to be buffered with an
equally light dose of CBD, just so I could go out and about and not be conspicuous.
Somehow I think it worked out fine. Better than fine. It was great!
For the moment I am still tethered to the state system,
still need to file applications while I wait to begin my job later on in the month.
But while I am doing that chore, sitting here at the branch filing away, I
would also like to begin my return to the land of mota imbibing, too. A soft touch
was necessary to be able to to do the work I needed to do and today, in the
midst of all the crazy kiddies, that 50/59 dose felt something like being
swaddled in a soft flannel sheet. The world went wild all around me and I was
cool with it. Kinder ran in and out of the teen room, walls reverberated with anguished
sounds of untethered kids, little feet tramped back and forth while their
parents plinked away mindlessly on their cell phones, all the while, this mild
manned ex-librarian doodled away on his keyboard, checking into this,
commenting on that. Bliss, yes it was, bliss.
Funny thing is my last year in the business kind of went
this way, too. Almost every morning for a year or so I took a bit of my homemade
tincture before I left home, took just a dab on the back of the tongue, found myself, not high,
but mellow, all through the mornings of my work days. Today feels like a slight
return to that moment in time, but, this time, without the hassle of needing to
be “in charge”. I think more folks in high office, no pun intended, should do a
bit of the same.
Hey, Great Orange Menace! Here's a thought! Go take your tiny hands off the nuclear
trigger and put them on the battery button of a Magic Flight Launch Box,
instead! At the very least, have your physician team raid the Ole Miss reefer
stash and have them roll you up a fatty because, baby, you need it! You are
much too tense and far too straight to do the job of being the leader of the
most powerful country in the free world in a righteous fashion. Frankly, I
couldn’t see you even doing an effective job in the J department today.
Well, maybe, if only you did a bit of tincture first.
Yeah, enjoy a beautifully noisy day, y’all.
Salud!
No comments:
Post a Comment