Tuesday, July 11, 2006

totally embarrassing story alert

I love the library. I love self-help books. I love self-help books about relationships even more. I can’t help myself--I always have and probably always will. (Sometimes my husband puts up with reading a relationship book together, sometimes not. I think he’s a saint for doing it at all.)

So yesterday at the library I picked out three different relationship books. At 8:55 I ran to the front of the library so that I could use the automated checkout before it shut down at 9pm, because I didn’t really want the librarians to see my picks. I may love self-help relationship books, but I do understand that they are cheesy if not overtly embarrassing.

The automated checkout was already off, so I got in line at the circulation desk. Of course, the guy who helped me is a member of my church and knows me. I think he even said, “Hi, Sister Ronk.”

Oh my. I was bright red as he checked my books out to me. One title, ‘16 Ways to Love your Lover’, is NOT what the title sounds like! At all! It’s really a book about the Myers-Briggs personality types and how that fits into relationships. Slightly boring--NOT racy like the title suggests! Another book had a picture of a silhouetted couple on the cover, their faces close together, moving in for a kiss. Again, makes the book look much racier than it actually is.

As soon as he handed me the books, I speed-walked it out of there, red-faced and totally humiliated. I will never be able to look him in the face again.

4 comments:

Steve said...

WOW. That is quite a story. I would have been beet-red in the face myself but I am sure the person who checked you out would not have thought anything of it.

*Amy * said...

Hey there- I know about the self-checkout thing, that is funny! However, libraries are a source of unbiased information and I am sure he thought nothing of it. It's kinda like the pain and embarrasment of buying pads in the drug store the first time. You are embarrassed but no one else thinks twice about it!:) Thanks for your honesty though, I know exactly what you mean:)

Anonymous said...

I thought I was the only one with this fear. Living in a small town its worse because you might see a librarian you know at check out, but it's more likely that you will see 5 people you know in the libarary. It makes it hard when you are checking out, books on pregnancy and you don't want anyone to know....yikes! Maybe there is a libarian/patron privlidge and he can't say what you've checked out???

holli jo said...

Thanks guys, for your support. There is definitely the library/patron privilege, but I don't want him to know about it either!

And penguin -- Funny stuff! I think I actually saw a book like that at the library. That would have been WAY WORSE than what I actually checked out!