Let's Talk About Texas

Hey, Friends.

Last week I had thought of writing up a big post about Texas. I chose not to do so at that time. The impact and the scale of the storm just seemed to get worse every time I saw the news. I didn't feel it was appropriate to share my ramblings here when so many people had lost so much.

I don't know that now is a particularly "better" time to do so with Hurricane Irma headed to Florida and already having devastated some islands.  It is what it is.

As I've mentioned, my brother lives in Corpus Christi, out on Padre Island.  He and his family are fine, thankfully, as they were away at the time Harvey hit.  They were lucky to only suffer minimal damage at their home from the storm.

Port Aransas wasn't so lucky.  13 miles.  That's the difference from the minimal damage my brother got, and the people of Port A.  I love Port Aransas!  I visit  every time I am down there. My heart goes out to the people who lost their homes and their livelihoods.  I can't even imagine what it is like to go home and see nothing recognizable left.

Even scarier?  This is even closer to my brother and his family.  It's owned by the family of one of my niece's friends.

And then the flooding in Houston!  It was like the storm was hell-bent on making sure everyone knew just how many different kinds of damage and horror it could cause.

I know many of you have already donated to a charity to help the people who lost loved ones, their homes, and/or their livelihoods.  Thank you for doing so -- from the bottom of my heart.

Maybe you haven't donated yet.  Maybe you just don't have the money.  That's totally understandable. It doesn't make you a bad person or heartless.  Everyone has their own circumstances to consider. Maybe you plan to donate in the future and just can't swing it yet. That's fine too. There have been fires in L.A. (still burning actually, about 80% out last I saw), and Hurricane Irma is on a path of destruction as we speak.  Lots of people, all over the place, are going to need to help.  Choose an international charity if you wish.  I'm sure the people in Mumbai could use your help as well.

Maybe you want to help, you want to donate, but you just don't know what to do. There's been a lot of conflicting and (in some cases) misleading information floating around online in the last week as to which charities are "good". Go with whichever one makes you happy. Personally, I think it takes a special kind of asshole to berate someone online for where they chose to make a donation to help other people. But that's just me. It's seems to have become a constant thing in the last week.

If you have a little extra money, let me share this: Laguna Little League

That's a link to the fundraiser for my nephew's little league in Corpus Christi.  Their fields got destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. As you can imagine, baseball fields are kind of low on the priority list with all of the damage that happened in the area.

I'm not saying baseball is more important than people.  By all means, please give as generously and as often as you can to help the people who have lost everything!  As covered above, a lot of people need help.  Consider this an option being offered.  It might just seem like a baseball field, but it could help bring back a sense of normalcy for some kids in Texas.

Let's try to end this on a positive note, shall we?  I went back through my pictures from various trips to Texas over the years.  These are some of my favorites.

My brother and sister-in-law got married on the beach in Port Aransas

Sandcastles on the beach on Padre Island

Schlitterbahn when it was still under construction

Pelicans at the National Seashore

Bob Hall Pier as seen from Mikel May's

Moby Dick's in Port Aransas

View from the tower in the park in Port Aransas

Palm trees at sunset

 While waiting for the ferry in Port Aransas

The National Seashore

 USS Lexington

 Taking a stroll with my brother

This is one of my favorite parade floats ever!

I'm not big on "selfies", but here you go, for those curious souls amongst you.  From the Dia de los Muertos Festival in Corpus last year.  This was taken after we had left, so the makeup is looking a bit rough.  No judging.

The Case of The Mystery Hats

Thursday began just like any other day in Library Land: patrons were in and out, staff was taking care of business.  Not too long into the morning one of our more regular patrons came in, and he asked if we were selling hats now.

Now, this gentleman I would place on the "normal to a bit of an odd duck" scale of patron behavior -- he's normally pretty laid back, he's got his eccentricities, but he is far, far away from our strangest patrons in terms of attitude and behavior.  

We had no idea what he was talking about, and we explained that we did not sell hats.  Why would we sell hats?  I cannot imagine a great number of people wanting to rock library merchandise on their heads.  Maybe if we were the Library of Congress, or the National Archives and someone had visited on vacation.  We sell reusable canvas book bags for $1.

Apparently someone had left 3 baseball hats on top of the garbage can outside the entrance to the library at some point after we had opened for the day.  No one on staff had realized this, but it explained why he was asking about hats.  I went outside to check the book return, and there they were: three baseball hats sitting in a neat line on top of the garbage can.  I left them right there.  I am not handling hats of unknown provenance.  Also, there was every possibility that someone in the building had left them there and was going to take them back after leaving the library.  People do weird shit at public libraries.  Seriously. 

He kept going on and on about the hats.  Did you get a free hat when you paid your fines?  Ha ha ha.  How big a fine did it have to be to get a free hat?  Ha ha ha.  He seemed to think repeating endless jokes about the hats was somehow going to make us find it hysterical.  

A couple of hours later I went to check the outdoor book return again, and discovered that there were only two hats left on the garbage can now.  

Holy crap!  Had the patron actually taken one of the mystery hats?  Why the hell would you want a mystery hat?  What if they belonged to another patron?  

By the end of the day the two mystery hats still sat there on the garbage can.  I took a picture, wondering how long it was going to take before they all magically disappeared.  I know how some of our patrons can act.  They slowly stole a bike, piece by piece.  When an office upstairs was doing renovations and had a garbage dumpster in the parking people shopped in that thing like it was a great new store.  There was no way those hats were going to be there for very long.

Hats from the garbage can!  While supplies last!

I work the late shift on Fridays, and I was worried I might miss all the fun of the mystery hats.  What if someone just threw them away?  (Slim to no chance, but it could happen.)  What if they were gone by the time I came in and I never knew how fast they disappeared?  It does not take much to amuse me, folks.

When I arrived at work I saw that the hats were still there, but someone had very neatly moved them from the top of the garbage can and they were now sitting on top of the book return.  Wait -- did someone actually empty the garbage can and keep the hats?  Nope.  Pretty sure that was our patron who scrounges for recyclable cans every morning.

I went on my dinner break a few hours later, and another hat had gone missing.  One lonely hat remained and, as if to add to his sad state, he had once again been moved back to sit atop the garbage can.

And then there was one...

Apparently we do not have a lot of golf afficionados as patrons, or else they are not cool with wearing other people's discarded mementos.  This hat was from a championship at a local golf course.  Poor, lonely hat!  How long will you have to sit there?

Not long, as it turned out.  By the time I came back from break the last hat was gone.  It only took about a day for three mystery hats of unknown origin to find new homes.  Unbelievable!

We have a lot of awesome patrons: they are kind, they like to share with others, and they donate a lot of things.  We get tons of donations for the library and its book sale.  We constantly have patrons trying to give us their old magazines.  We have had patrons bring us art work to see if we could sell it at the book sale.  Our knitting groups make hats, afghans, and lap blankets for the local veterans' hospital, homeless shelters, and other organizations, and patrons bring in items they have made at home to donate to the cause.  Our patrons rock!  

That being said....

REASONS NEVER TO TAKE ITEMS LEFT ON TOP OF A GARBAGE CAN AT THE LIBRARY

1. Common sense, people: you DO NOT know where these items came from.  They could have lice or bedbugs for starters.  Why would you want to risk it?  

2. They might belong to someone inside the library.  Most of our patrons are great, but we also have a fairly large number of patrons with various issues that might lead them to believe it is perfectly logical to leave their multiple hats on a garbage can outside.  Trust me when I say you do not want to piss these patrons off.

3. They may have actually been in the garbage can, along with god only knows what else, and someone removed them.  It happens more than you would think.  

4. They could be stolen property.  Seriously.  People have brought stolen bikes to the library, a purse they stole from someone at the mall, stolen phones, etc.  Do you really want to end up involved in a situation like that?

I think that should suffice on reasons why it is a bad idea to take mystery items left on a garbage can.

*To the kind folks who think they are being "helpful" by leaving such articles for others:  please don't do it here.  You know the library is not the proper place for that.  Take them to the Good Will or the Salvation Army.  Donate them to a homeless shelter of half-way house.  Leave them in front of your own home with a "free" sign -- you will be amazed at how quickly things disappear!*

The Carrot of Justice

So, I just got one of the strangest phone calls I have ever received.  I'm pretty sure it was a prank on some level -- I'm just not sure if I was the one being pranked, or if someone was messing with the guy who called me.

Around 10:30 this morning I get a phone call. The guy asks for Thomas Anderson.  I tell him he has the wrong number, there is no one here by that name, and we hang up.

Whatever.  Time to get some coffee!

Five minutes later the phone rings again.  Same dude.  Still asking for Thomas Anderson.

I tell him again that he has the wrong number, that he just called a few minutes ago.  This is what ensues...

Guy:  Okay, but before you hang up, is this xxx-xxx-xxxx?

Me:  Yes, that is my phone number.  There is no one here by that name.

Guy: Really?  Huh.  Well, do you know anyone named Thomas Anderson who might have entered your phone number on a website to contact about making a donation?  (Poor guy sounds perplexed.)

Me: No.  I'm really sorry.  The only Thomas Anderson I know of is Keanu Reeves in The Matrix.  I'm sure it is a common name, but I think someone might be messing with you.

Guy:  Any chance this is a new phone number for you?  Have you gotten any other calls for a Thomas Anderson?

Me:  Nope, sorry.  I've had this number for 3 years.  I've gotten lots of debt collection calls for previous people at this number, but not for the name Thomas Anderson.  Usually they are looking for Cyan Gregory or Zeckie Grizzle.

Guy: Zeckie Grizzle?  For real?

Me: Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Guy:  So no one there pledged a donation on the Carrot of Justice website?

Me:  The what?

Guy: I'm affiliated with a charity called The Carrot of Justice.  Someone contacted us from our website, a Thomas Anderson, that they wanted to make a donation and to contact them at this phone number.

Me:  *GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle*  I've never heard of The Carrot of Justice, and neither has Google.  I just did a search and got no results.

I love Google.  

Guy:  We're real, I promise!  We just don't waste money paying Google to put us in their top search results.

Me: That's a pretty specific name to find.  It should come up before random recipes for carrot juice.

Guy:  Well, we are a small local organization, right here in Colorado...

Me:  Wait, wait, wait.  You're calling from Colorado?

Guy:  Yes.

Me:  You know you're calling New York now, right?

Guy: I am? Huh.  That doesn't seem right. *shuffling papers*

Me: No, it doesn't. There's probably very little chance that anyone from New York has even heard of The Carrot of Justice, much less looked up your website to make a donation.  Also, it's like 10:30 in the morning here, which is what...8:30 in Colorado?  I doubt anyone really wants you calling them at 8:30 in the morning on a Sunday about a donation.

At this point I think we are pretty much done here, so I go to warm up my coffee.  

Guy: *shuffling papers*  Hello, are you still there?  I can't hear you, the lines gotten very static.

Me:  *HOW IS THIS NOT OVER YET*  Yeah, I'm still here.  Just had to get more coffee.

Guy:  Now I hear it.

Me: Now you hear what?

Guy:  That I am really calling someone in New York.  Coffee.  Sounds very different when you say it.

Me:  Okay.  Look, I don't want to waste your time.  I'm not going to give a donation to the Carrot of Justice in Colorado.  

Guy: Oh no, I totally understand!  I wouldn't give me any information over the phone either!

Me: Okay....

Guy:  I just wanted to thank you for all of your help.  You've been really nice to a guy who called the wrong number.

Me: You're welcome.  Not your fault you got bad information.

Guy:  I really appreciate that!  I'm trying to help out a friend who gave me all of these people to call, and I really don't know what I am doing.

Me:  Best of luck with that.  And you might want to wait a little longer before calling people.  Still kind of early to be calling people in Colorado about donations.

Guy:  Good point.  Thanks again!  And they say New Yorkers are all rude. Thanks for proving the stereotype wrong.  Have a good day!

Me:  You too.  Bye!

And here ends the strangest phone call I have ever gotten.  

I honestly do not know if this was a prank phone call on me, or if someone is really messing with a very oddly named charity group in Colorado. Maybe there really is a Thomas Anderson who is very confused about his phone number and messed up the area code or something  wanted to make a donation. (*Edit note: I Googled area codes.  The codes for Colorado are not remotely close to mine, so a typo is not possible.*)   In hindsight, I really wish I had thought to ask what the heck the charity was about.  

So, people of Colorado  -- if you know that this is a real group, let me know please?  And also, you're welcome.  Maybe I really did spare some of you from this guy calling you early on a Sunday morning.

And Thomas Anderson, apparently from somewhere in Colorado, if you really exist -- stop giving out my damn phone number!