You can find amazing things left in the library. Yeah, there are the usual suspects: articles of clothing, more car keys than you can possibly imagine, sunglasses, umbrellas, food, phones...and that is keeping the list to the more popular, non-gross, list of items. Those are the things that you would think that people would miss and come back to claim. It never ceases to amaze me that people never come back for this stuff. Hell, I wouldn't be able to leave the library if I left my car key there. It would definitely be something I missed and needed.
Sometimes, through whatever cosmic forces you want to imagine are behind it, the collection of flotsam accumulated over the course of an afternoon just needs to be documented.
Friends, this afternoon the stars aligned and it was magical. It was as if the patrons collectively were trying to send us a message.
The message I interpreted from the artifacts collected? PIRATE
Yeah. I know that sounds ridiculous, but just go with it. (And you should probably also know that I've worked the last 16 days in a row and have 5 more to go before I get a day off. I'm not above making my own fun to get through the day at this point.) It was so bizarre, yet kind of awesome, that I felt the need to document it in photos.
Let me break it down for you....
It was a slow afternoon in Library Land. Pretty peaceful, not a lot of problems. It was finally sunny and nice out after a week of rain, and it was Mother's Day, so most people had an elsewhere to be.
My mad theory began with a discovery by our student page.
ARTIFACT #1
He was diligently working away, shelving the new books that had been returned. As he was working he discovered a couple of items hidden away behind the books.
Happy Hour at the library!
Two of these, both empty, tucked away behind the books. The odd part of it isn't finding bottles hidden behind books. Weirder shit than that gets discovered all of the time. To be fair, kicking back a couple of drinks while hiding in the stacks is on the more tame end of behavior that happens on a fairly regular basis.
Why hide the empties? I could understand hiding your stash for later, but the empties? It would be so much less conspicuous to chuck them in a trash can somewhere. It was a little disturbing that we might be someone's new watering hole, but not unexpected in the grand scheme of things.
ARTIFACT #2
A short while later I discovered the next item left on the circulation desk. I didn't see the bearer of such a gift, nor did I know when they deposited it. Again -- nothing out of the norm. Patrons are always finding things that they think are lost, or weird, or broken, and they bring them to the circulation desk. Sometimes -- especially if it is something they think might be valuable (or dangerous) -- they will wait to tell us where they found it. Many times they just drop it and go with the assumption that we will eventually find it and deal with it. The item I found was small, and tucked almost around the edge of the desk. I only noticed because there was suddenly something shiny that hadn't been there earlier.
OMG it's a tiny pirate hook!
Sure, it could be just a broken clasp, or part of a broken clip. The eye sees what it wants to see.
Plus, that's so boring.
Use your imagination, Friends! Don't disappoint me and take the "boring" route.
I mean, we just discovered two empty bottles of rum. How could this be anything other than a tiny pirate hook to go with the rum?
This was awesome! It needed to be documented because....well...how often do you find 2 bottles of rum and a tiny pirate hook just hanging out in the library?
I thought it was appropriate
But then, Friends, as impossible as it may seem, it got even better!
ARTIFACT #3
You might be wondering how this could possibly get better. I had already told our page that if he found seashells, or beach sand, a ship in a bottle -- anything else weird and pirate-related -- he needed to let me know ASAP. No lie. I had everyone on board with my antics at this point.
And then my lovely coworker pointed out artifact #3.
There, sitting unassumingly atop a library book mark that had been left in a book when it was returned, was item number three. It was perfect!
We had reached The Trifecta of Pirate. The Holy Trinity of Swashbuckler Paraphernalia.
Enjoy the new background I set on that computer, kids!
Empty rum bottles.
A tiny pirate hook.
A skull.
I think it's pretty clear what the universe was trying to tell us: Pirates!
There obviously must be pirates around. Or nefarious behavior of some sort.
At the very least someone who might be inebriated, and may or may not have broken jewelry, and was forgetful when it comes to keeping track of their bookmarks.
Or maybe it is just a sign that we were bored this afternoon, and I really need a day away from Library Land.
(But I'm sticking with the pirates.)
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