[Publib] Monday thoughts on Sunday

[Audrey DeVillier]

I think the old phrase "work smarter, not harder" was drilled into many
baby boomers, whose parents had grown up during the great depression and/or
seen the horrors of war.  Every generation naturally wants better for the
next.

Though I was raised in a family with four generations of law enforcement on
one side and carpenters, plumbers, and tradesmen on the other, I was pushed
from every angle toward college and greatly discouraged from joining any of
those professions.  My heart's desire was to be a forensic investigator
(this was before CSI made it popular), but my mother poo-poohed the idea,
saying I just watched too much Quincy, M.D.  To bolster her point, she
pointed out that I made more money in my first clerical position at a local
chemical plant than my father did as a police sargeant, and he strapped a
gun on his hip and faced the big bad world every day to provide for a
family of six!

Ever the rebel, I worked in the oilfield for nine years right out of high
school.  I did well at my job and made lots of money, but not a day went by
that I didn't feel out of place.  My peers all looked "up" to me, even when
I was the low man on the totem pole.  It was an uncomfortable feeling.  I
finally got tired of hearing, "But you're too smart not to have a degree"
and went back to college.  There I met firsthand what my oilfield boss
called "college educated idiots."  Unable to find a "good" position in my
field, I settled on another clerical job that I was clearly overqualified
for just to pay the bills.  Big mistake.  I was miserable--and I'm sure I
made everyone around me unhappy, too--proving another old saying, "misery
loves company."

I was overqualified for my initial mailroom position at the library,
too.... but I enjoyed what I was doing and got to see how everything here
works from the back door forward.  It's been an invaluable experience, and
I wish I'd discovered library as a career earlier.... but I wouldn't trade
my rebel years for anything.  What I truly want to be now is a writer....
but I'm still gathering stories for that Great American Novel.

I don't mind getting my hands dirty.  I've maintained two acres of property
on my own now for the past sixteen years.  I can testify that riding around
in concentric squares is quite therapeutic.  And it offers a sense of
completion and accomplishment when the day's work is done (library work
never is!)  When I'm particularly stressed out from my white-collar life, I
tend to have three recurring dreams:   1) smoking [I've never smoked],  2)
milking cows in Nebraska [don't know why the cows are always Nebraskan, but
they are], and  3) woodworking--particularly sanding and staining
furniture.  The commonality among the three is that they are repetitive
motions.... soothing to the stressed-out mind.  I've never been a smoker
and it's too late to start now.  I don't think I'd make much of a dairy
farmer.  But I do enjoy finishing woodwork.  I suspect that blue collar
workers require more physical therapy, while white collar workers require
therapy of a different kind.  My therapist actually suggested woodworking
as a hobby!

Given the hard economic times, your question is more than stimulating (pun
intended).  I do library work because I love it.... certainly not for the
pay.  Even after I complete the masters degree, library compensation will
be nowhere near commensurate with the trades.  There are new industries
starting up here locally who would welcome my maturity and skills, as well
as my as-yet-unfinished education.... and I hate to say it, but if the
money is right.... well.... you know the old idiom, "Money talks.... "

But that would be a tough decision.  I kinda like being bat girl.



A.J.
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Audrey Jo DeVillier
Head, ILL/Technical Services
Iberville Parish Library
24605  J. Gerald Berret Blvd.
Plaquemine, LA  70765-0736
(225) 687-2520
 
People become librarians because they know too much.  Their knowledge
extends beyond mere categories.  They cannot be confined to disciplines.
Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing.  They bring order to chaos.
They bring wisdom and culture to the masses.  They preserve every aspect of
human knowledge.  Librarians rule.  And they will kick the crap out of
anyone who says otherwise.        ---- Erica Olsen, Librarian Avengers blog
  http://librarianavengers.org/worship-2