It Could've Been A Lot Worse

Things have been quiet lately, but there was a bit of excitement the other day. I was helping patrons in the library's quiet area, when suddenly sounds of people having sex (moaning and groaning and screaming dirty things) started coming from the back corner of the nonfiction area. Now, because this occurred in the quiet area, said sounds could be heard loud and clear throughout. A poor old lady in a comfy chair in the back actually dropped her magazine and clasped her hands to her cheeks.

So I headed on back to where the sounds were coming from, while "ohshitohshitohshit" ran through my head as I tried to figure out the best way to discern what was going on back there without scarring myself for life. I mean, most of our patrons really shouldn't be seen in any sort of state of undress.

When I was about halfway there, the noises stopped.

It turns out some guy with a laptop forgot to turn the sound off and opened up a video a friend emailed him as a joke, without knowing what the video would be of. I don't know if I buy the story about him not knowing what the video was, but he was bright red and embarrassed enough that I let it go and just asked him to make sure he turns his sound off when he uses his laptop in the library.

So discovering patrons having sex in the library is, thankfully, still not something I can check off my "You Know You're a Public Librarian When..." list.