Sociopath World: Enneagrams

Sociopath World: Enneagrams

Polite Tease

Does going to library school include training in becoming a tease?

Libraries imply: We will help you find vital information. The customer can look for information on his or her own or look for assistance. Consider two situations:

Customer A: My child has been diagnosed with diabetes. I have to learn to help administer insulin and prepare a safe diet for him.

Librarian: Here are some books and web pages that will help you gain that information.

Librarian sends happy customer on way in less than five minutes.

Customer B: My child's kidneys are failing. I can't afford to pay for a transplant operation. I want to learn how to do a transplant myself.

Librarian: What part of go to medical school don't you understand?

Of course, a librarian would never be that rude. Along with being a tease, a librarian learns to be polite in library school.

Worst Aspects of ...

Through most of human history, men have held most of the power in comparison to women. A few women, such as Elizabeth I of England, and Catherine the Great of Russia, achieved and wielded considerable power by accidents and reasons of birth.

A few women gained power and influence by disguising themselves as men. A Ninth Century Pope may have been a woman who disguised herself as a man.

Several hundred women disguised themselves as men and fought as soldiers during the American Civil War.

As much of history is a tale of violence and suffering, it’s clear that women can behave as badly as men.

If you really think about it, it is amazing that women could not vote until the Twentieth Century. Men dominate almost every professional field except perhaps librarianship and nursing. Even in those two fields, men rise to leadership positions faster than women.

In the system where I worked, a man was Director. In my experience, the system combined the worst features of a patriarchy and the worst features of a matriarchy.

Free Speech

Public Libraries perceive themselves as defenders of free speech, and as opponents of censorship. There is much evidence to support this self-concept. However, as a person who worked for one library, I found that internally within the organization, there was much discomfort with free speech and it was often discouraged, though the discouragement was often subtle and the censorship was often self-imposed.

Two cheers for libraries

Libraries promote reading, especially for children. Reading is often useful and helpful, but as with any human activity, it can be troublesome. As a child from an unhappy family, the Echo Park Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library was almost a second home for me. In many ways reading was an addiction and an escape for me and in many ways it got in the way of my growing up. My feelings about reading and libraries are somewhat mixed.