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List:       publib
Subject:    [Publib] Re: Walter the Dog
From:       jbsphx () cox ! net (Joe Schallan)
Date:       2006-07-28 14:55:46
Message-ID: 6ee4aa25037657ded4891eb0fe2243cd () cox ! net
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Christine Perkins wrote:

"Here's a story that had me in tears at our staff meeting this week,
thought I'd share it with you at risk of introducing some low-brow potty
humor to this otherwise professional list..."

Hey, Christine, I work with Harold the Farting
Librarian.

We call him "Gassy Harry."

Despite his unfortunate problem, he's a fine
and accomplished fellow who, among other
achievements, plays oboe for our community
symphony, where he sits in the winds . . .

One of the indignities of age is that one's body
takes on a mind of its own, and allows things
to escape, at inoppurtune moments, that wouldn't
have escaped at all years before.

A patron appeared at my desk, dropped his
library card, and when he bent over to retrieve
it, an involuntary something occurred.

What is the polite, if not professional, response
in this situation?  A brief "Don't worry about it,"
sotto voce?  Falling off your stool in gales of
uproarious laughter?  Making a remark about
peeling the laminate off the reference desk,
fogging the librarian's glasses, and
instantly unbinding the World Books?
Pointedly cocking your ear toward the window
and declaring that you've never heard a birdsong
like that?

The answer to this exact situation was provided
long ago by Miss Manners herself:  Flatulence
has no social existence.  When an involuntary
episode of it strikes someone, the surrounding
parties carry on exactly as if it had not happened.

Without resorting to the LCSH, I am trying to
imagine how the cataloguers, in their inimitable,
humorous way, would classify Christine's
story . . .

Canididae -- Anecdotes, facetiae -- Flatulence?

And of course, in our OPACs a child typing
"Walter the Farting Dog" as a subject search
would not find it.

Has Sandy Berman addressed this?



As usual, I am off today because of working
tomorrow, and am most emphatically NOT
musing on this curious subject on my employer's
time.

Fondest regards,

Joe Schallan
Phoenix

Where pinto beans are a staple of the diet,
and thus where, amigos y amigas, the hot
winds blow . . .

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