[Publib] Seagull Management

[Robert L. Balliot]

Greetings,

 

I was just down by the dock enjoying a beautiful day in RI.  (Note we always
shorten the

name since it is actually called the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations.)

 

There are pylons of different heights supporting the dock and a group of
seagulls were

resting there.  There were a few more seagulls than there were pylons and it
seems that

the most coveted spot was the tallest pylon.  From there, they could look
down on the

others and swoop down on tidbits from above.  The biggest most aggressive
seagull

got the top spot, pecking its way to supremacy.  As far as I could tell,
those were its

only qualities - bigger and more aggressive.  Other seagulls seemed better
groomed

than the biggest seagulls, nicer feathers, and generally better preened.
Maybe that

was because they were not spending all their time pecking their way to a
perch.

 

In all of the libraries that I have worked in, there was always a sense of
seagull 

management.  The coveted office where you get to swoop down more easily on

select tidbits and peer pecking to maintain a perch.  Some get no perch at
all.

Those perches are, metaphorically, Jim Casey's table of jobs to seekers.
>From 

what Jim has told us in the 70's, there was much more pecking required.  

And, the biggest peckers got the jobs. 

 

*************************************************

Robert L. Balliot

1-401-421-5763

Skype: RBalliot

Bristol, Rhode Island

http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm

*************************************************

 

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