An ordinary working day

"Could you spell your surname please."

I opened our library's home page on our computer screen,  clicked the registration of members, then tried to find his surname in the system.

He stood in front of our service desk,  wearing the same jumper which he always wears every time he comes to the library."That jumper needs a decent wash."I couldn't help myself but state that in my head when I saw him.

An ordinary working day

He lost his library card again,  after fifth time we made a new one for him. The only way I can open his account is to type his surname into our computer system.

He has a very long, and strange kind of Maori/English mixed surname,  which I would never be capable of remembering.

"T, a, n, e....oh, no!it's an e! not an a!..."

"Right!" I thought, "not again!"

Somehow, I can't figure out "e" and "a", because of the southern hemisphere accent pronunciation, so it's really hard for me to hear the difference between the" e" and the "a".

" Ok!, so,  the 'e' for 'elephant?' right?"I stood straight and looked into his eyes impatiently.

"No,  it's 'a',  not elephant! It's 'a'....."

"So,  'a', for' apple,'  right?"

"Yes." He finally gave me his approval.

An ordinary working day

After many years of having this job, I'm kind of sick of working at the same desk, dealing with the same people every day.

The library  here, in Picton is probably quite different from other  libraries in my home country,(China)(well, I'm not quite sure of how the libraries nowadays over there are)

Anyway,  libraries in Picton are  pretty much like the refugee campuses.

Regarding the country's social benefits system,  so many people in the small town where I am living don't want to go to work. They would rather stay at home,waiting for the government to feed them and give them more and more money..

Therefore, the libraries where the government provided, a comfortable environment for people to read, learn and stay,  become very overated for people who don't have a job,have low income and don't have a good house to live in.

An ordinary working day

Not long after the"more cards lost" person has left,  we heard very loud snoring coming from upstairs,  the mezzanine floor.

We raised our heads to glance in that direction,  only to see one of our library's "regular" people on the soft couch,in a deep slumber,snoring loudly. With his mouth wide open,and news paper on his lap almost sliding off,the loud snoring from his direction echoed from where he was,so everyone was able to hear how comfortable he was sleeping.

I walked over to him,  touched his shoulder gently,  and used the  warmest tone of voice I was capable of making in order to wake him up,  and said:" I am sorry sir,  you can't sleep here,  please wake up........"

He opened his eyes wearily,barely waking up and glanced around his surroundings with red in his eyes, then fixed them on me.

"What time is it?" He asked me.

I looked at my watch,  it was 9 o'clock in the morning.

"Oh! I'm sorry, it's very comfortable in here, isn't?"

I watched him silently,  with a big friendly and  warm smile on my face, as I tried to cover up the nauseaus feeling which kept floating up in my throat. I was trying hard to push it down.

An ordinary working day

People say that "the job you do is the job you hate!" well,sometimes to me, it's starting to make sense.

I considered  changing my job when my husband reminded me:" Don't forget you are a mother,  you should put your children and family first!".

I realized that being with someone like my husband who really hates cities and is living in the country side,the chances of getting a decent career in this small town called Picton, are very slim since there are no opportunities.

Well,  this is my life now,this is what I have on my hands to deal with.  I guess I'm going to have to live with it.Please forgive me if I sounded negative.Everyone has a burden to bare in life.

The photos are of the library where I am working,all rights (including photos) reserved。