Please report any weird things that are asked of you at the info desk to tumblr generally or me specifically
It’s never so much what is asked, but how it is asked. A few favorites:
A student in a full suit and tie comes up to the desk early on a Friday afternoon and says in the voice of a seasoned door-to-door salesman, “Hello! Curious question: Do you have a paperclip?” I do. I give it to him. He says “Thank you for your time!”
A professor comes up to the desk and says “Has anyone come asking for me?” I said I don’t think so, would they have told me? And she replied “Yeah, they would have, you would know if they were here.” Later she comes back and asks if there are any phones around because her cell can’t make outgoing calls. I hoist the desk phone onto the counter. She calls the person and makes various inquiries to their whereabouts, then promptly leaves and says “They’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.”
The janitor, a quiet man of few words, comes up to me during opening shift and says “Found a ball.” He hands me a rubber ball. I put it in the lost and found drawer, just in case someone comes seeking their lost rubber ball.
The father of a prospective student comes up to the desk and asks “What does the inscription over the door say? I know veritas means truth, and omni means all, but I couldn’t make out the rest.” I tell him I didn’t know. Not because I don’t know Latin, but because I didn’t know we had an inscription above the door.
My boss comes up to the desk at eight in the morning and says “Can you do me a favor? Can you get about five spoons from the cafe?” I don’t ask why, because I am eager to please. I walk down to the cafe (two minutes away) and wrap a handful of spoons in a napkin. I quickly turn my heels. I can’t bring myself to make eye contact with anyone else. The spoons feel like they are burning my hand, even though I know they are free of charge. I ascend the stairs to the library, trying to make it look like I’m not holding nothing but a fist full of stolen plasticware. I hand them to my boss. She thanks me. I go back to the desk.
