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I honestly don't get too many sucky customers at the library, but this afternoon, I had one who was a real "doozy". Let's call the customer "Chantay", and I won't get into her exact race, only that she is a "woman of colour". (I'll try to keep it limited, but unfortunately, race does play a role in this situation.)
I had a four-hour shift at work today, and my first hour was at the customer service desk. Chantay came up to me and said she needed to use one of our computers. I asked if she had a library card, she said "No", so I asked if she had a photo I.D., as I could get her onto a computer that way. Not every state will display first and last names in the same order, so I asked Chantay which one was which, just to confirm.
She became a bit miffed at that and claimed that we'd already had this conversation when she was in here yesterday, and she'd explained it to me before. Then she couldn't figure out which computer she wanted me to make her a reservation for, and that led into her complaining about how she felt insulted, it was probably because of her race, and that the library needed to hire more "people of colour". Chantay also asked one of our security guards about where we kept the "complaint forms", not sure if she intended to send something about me personally, or the library in general.
Fortunately, our assistant branch manager was on the desk with me, witnessed the situation, and she'd assured me that I had done nothing wrong. The incident did get posted on the "Incident Report" section on the library's staff website, but NOT because of me, it was due to Chantay's attitude/behavior. (She was saying/doing a few things which indicated that she might have mental issues)
My direct supervisor was working today, and she too assured me that I had done nothing wrong and offered to take over one of my "on desk" hours, as Chantay was still in the library.
I had a four-hour shift at work today, and my first hour was at the customer service desk. Chantay came up to me and said she needed to use one of our computers. I asked if she had a library card, she said "No", so I asked if she had a photo I.D., as I could get her onto a computer that way. Not every state will display first and last names in the same order, so I asked Chantay which one was which, just to confirm.
She became a bit miffed at that and claimed that we'd already had this conversation when she was in here yesterday, and she'd explained it to me before. Then she couldn't figure out which computer she wanted me to make her a reservation for, and that led into her complaining about how she felt insulted, it was probably because of her race, and that the library needed to hire more "people of colour". Chantay also asked one of our security guards about where we kept the "complaint forms", not sure if she intended to send something about me personally, or the library in general.
Fortunately, our assistant branch manager was on the desk with me, witnessed the situation, and she'd assured me that I had done nothing wrong. The incident did get posted on the "Incident Report" section on the library's staff website, but NOT because of me, it was due to Chantay's attitude/behavior. (She was saying/doing a few things which indicated that she might have mental issues)
My direct supervisor was working today, and she too assured me that I had done nothing wrong and offered to take over one of my "on desk" hours, as Chantay was still in the library.
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