Friday, April 18, 2008

Can I have one of the Faster Computers?

This question is heard often at Mille Lacs Lake Community Library. We have three computers and one of them seems to me to work fine, but I guess if you want to play a game or do Facebook or You Tube, it just isn't good enough. As at many libraries the after school crowd starts pouring in around 3:15. The retirees who are checking their e-mail or vacation property in Florida get pushed off by the faster elementary kids. Webkinz doesn't work on the slow computer, so Tamara is pleased and tears off to feed her pet. Dalen calls on his cell phone. At this point he doesn't even identify himself--"3:20 Computer--one of the faster ones." Shortly after he arrives, flipping his cell phone up and down or talking on it to his mom. The teenage girls, Fonda, the blonde and Amanda, the brunette, come in next, indignant because they can't get "one of the faster computers." They sit down at the slow one with reluctance. Robert comes in next. He's the true regular. "What time can I get a computer? Can I get Dalen's computer? Give me a set of headphones--no not that set!! Have my books come in? Do you have anymore Dragonball Z books? Do you have any books on puberty? What time will Dalen be done with that computer?"
So next month, I'm going to ask the Friends of the Library, Can we get a faster computer?

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