the best thing about tumblr is that you can watch a show and then you come here and someone has made a gifset of it and you can put it on your blog like a sticker in a journal
“I like your stupid face. It’s so stupid. It’s so… I like it. Can I touch it?”
“You’re all I ever wanted. I’m sorry I can’t say it sober.”
“I can’t wait for the room to stop spinning, so I can focus on your face again.”
“I would love to hear those words in any other place than this bathroom, holding your hair back.”
“You’re cute. And a bit blurry. But definitely always so cute.”
“I think I love you.” “And I would love to answer you accordingly, but I think I would appreciate it more when you’re actually able to understand my answer.”
“Don’t tell my sober me that I told you I love you. It was a secret.”
“I…I want to give you my heart. It belongs to… to you. How… how can I give it to you? I don’t want it anymore.” “Let’s wait until tomorrow with the surgery.”
“Oh I’m dreaming of you again. If I wouldn’t be dreaming and if you would be really here, then I would tell you I love you.”
“I love you. But that’s a secret. So I won’t tell you about it.”
“You’re drunk.” “Yes. And hopelessly in love with you.”
“I’m seeing you twice. Oh, now I can give all my love to even more of you.”
“Say that again after two coffees at least and I will be yours.”
“You’re so adorable. I want to pick you up and never let you down.”
“I’ve always loved you. But I will never tell you.”
“This is not a dream, I think. In my dreams we’re usually kissing.”
“I’m not drunk. Can a drunk person do this?” “You’re not doing anything.” “But… I sent you my love. Did you… did you not get it?”
“Can you keep a secret? I am madly in love with you. But psshh.”
“I fell in love with you.” “No, you fell down the stairs. You should really learn to hold your liquor.”
“You’re so perfect. How can anyone be so perfect? Maybe you’re just a dream.”
A question I get asked a lot while working at a public library is “how do you deal with homeless people?”
And the answer is, we don’t.
The unhoused people who come here seeking refuge 99% of the time understand that they will be kicked out if they misbehave.
The people you have to watch out for are Jessica, who only came because the kid she didn’t want had to visit for a homework assignment and she just *needs* to yell at her child for asking to borrow two books or stay an extra five minutes, or Michael, who came in to look at porn on our computers for whatever fucking reason, or Karen who just wanted to come by to throw a fit that the particular book she wanted was checked out and harrass our staff about our collection being too limited.
99% of the time, the people we need to ban are middle to upper-middle class white people while the homeless and mentally ill/disabled people mind their own damn business and are honestly some of the best patrons we have.
I bring this up because today we had a man come in. He stopped at the desk, pulled up a chair and said “I’m newly homeless and was living in my car. I’m disabled. It was impounded. It’s raining. I don’t have a phone and I don’t know where to go tonight.”
And we did what we could to help. He was incredibly kind and patient despite his obvious anxiety and stress, more than most able bodied, housed patrons are to us under much less dire conditions. I liked knowing that we were the first place he came.
We have so many people like this who come in everyday. Many are quiet and keep to themselves, but sometimes they talk to us.
They tell us about how they’re taking a few courses on a scholarship they applied for from our library’s computer at the local community college to get their diploma. Or ask about a manga or dvd or book we might have to help them pass the time.
One woman, who comes in daily with her tattered walker always says hello to me and likes to work on the new jigsaw puzzle with me when we set one out.
So like, treat unhoused people like people. Treat disabled people like people. I don’t want my library to feel like the only safe space in the world, but I’m glad it can be one of them.
I’m so sick of hearing about how “the homeless are ruining everything” when they are some of the kindest, most respectful people here. Sometimes they mutter, might not have had a place to shower, and might need a little extra space for their backpacks but that’s FINE. It Doesn’t Matter Actually. None of that is a problem or any of my business to care about (unless they request help/services), and I also don’t think it’s any of yours.
I sometimes find it helpful to answer these kinds of questions with a sort of lesson on reporting bias - it does seem to be the same kinds of people who ask about how ~~~dangerous~~~ the homeless are, and who listen to news about violent crime and decide the gang wars are all going to get us in our beds.
Other than very obvious reasons of prejudice, another reason even fairly-liberal people who don’t work in the industry ask this way is because they only hear stories, and stories only get told if they are dramatic. And truthfully, in my experience when there are problems with unhoused people in the library, they do have higher odds of being more dramatic - because being unhoused is living in dramatic circumstances! The problems aren’t “Karen is being entitled and verbally abusive to our staff”, they’re “this guy had all his worldly possessions with him which included a can of bear spray and then someone Looked At Him Funny and it’s not like he’s in the most stable place right now and now we’re evacuating the library for the rest of the day” and that story might make the news, because it’s dramatic. And then people have heard 1 thing about ‘homeless people in libraries’, and it’s that the situation involves bear spray.
I don’t know that it is fixable, honestly - it’s a really insidious combination of 'the stress and drama of being unhoused pulls unusual reactions out of some people’ and 'people only know what they hear about’ and 'it takes 10 positive stories to outweigh 1 negative, because of Lizard Survival Brain’. But I do find it helpful when I’m explaining on an individual basis.
The real only-child experience was visiting your friends with siblings and you talk and play in their rooms and suddenly their little siblings burst in and throw stuff at them and from one moment to the next you’re in a war-zone like: “Yes and on my birthday we went swimming with Dad and Lea had ice-cream but then LEA I HATE YOU GET OUT OF HERE STOP BITING ME I WILL TELL MUM OW OW OW DIEEE!!!! but then Dad didn’t have pocket change and we had to go all the way back to the car to get his wallet! :o”
Or you’re sitting in the living room playing video games and suddenly their 8 year older brother comes in and starts yelling in an increasingly booming voice: “I want the playstation now! I Want The Play Station Now! I WANT THE PLAY STATION NOW!!! [Slur] [Slur] [Slur] [Slur] [Slur] [Slur].”
And then one day they ask you: “But aren’t you sad that you don’t have siblings? Don’t you get lonely? I couldn’t imagine living without my JONATHAN I WILL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!!!!!”
