[Publib] Best reference question ever

[Helen R]

I don't know if these qualified as best ever but they were funny.  In a
former life I worked as a librarian aide at a community college.  My
favorite question was from a young man who was at the college on a sports
scholarship.  He came to the library in search of some information - I knew
he was in speech class as he had the textbook.  He suffered from a
combination of things - he used a lot of slang, had a speech impediment and
mumbled horribly when he talked.  So he "asked" me a question....all I got
out of it was "mouse."  After he tried to clarify it for me several times we
were no closer.  He then drew a picture of mouse ears...I said Mickey Mouse
and he nodded yes!  Then he went on to draw a house which confused me but
then his face brighten, he got the atlas off the stand and found Florida.
Turns out he wanted to do a report on Disney World.  We found some material
(this was before the internet) and he went out happy.

The other one was I was listening to a student from Nicaragua practice a
demostration speech she had to give (I was sounding board, proofer, tutor,
etc to many students) and she kept talking about sewing naked.  After the
third time refering to this activity I stopped and asked if naked sewing was
what she meant and I described naked sewing.  She blushed horribly and then
tried to explain what she meant - turned out to be a "hidden stitch."

Helen Rigdon
Branch Manager - Argentine Library
Kansas City Kansas Public Library

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