There’s a beautiful time of night just around 8pm when of the guests are either at dinner or at the early evening show, and my normally buzzing office becomes blissfully quiet. Moments of peace and quiet are rare on the flagship – on any ship really – and you learn to take them and treasure them where they come. This is when I do the little things, when I walk along and drag my fingertips across the books lining the shelves to make sure they’re all even and faced properly. It’s when I browse the titles of the collection myself and decide what I want to read next. It’s also when I read – since at night I find myself worried if my increasingly nocturnal lifestyle disturbs my roommate, I’ve taken to forcing myself to read during the day instead of the evenings.
It’s also when I have my evening tea.
Yes, some stereotypes are quite true, but then I’ve been a tea granny much of my life, since most of my friends will certainly vouch for the disastrous effects of my consuming coffee (I can hear Silver rolling her eyes from here).
I always find it amusing though how many people see me and only see my glasses and my teacup and my book, and they don’t really see beyond that. How well do we know anyone? Especially in this line of work? Superficial impressions, that’s all. I always say I’m not a librarian, I just play one every day – and it’s true, I play the part exceptionally well. But it’s not who I am. It’s who people who work with me and don’t’ know me all that well think I am. Then it startles the heck out of them when I do something that – while quite in character for me – is out of the window of how they perceive me.
This is why nearly a week later, my dive off the top of the Auckland Sky Tower is still the talk of the ship.
Shaughnessy?! Shaughnessy of all people?
As if the fact that I work in a library means that I have to be tame all the time. Amusingly enough, while I suspect that my friends back home think I’m insane – I don’t think that it surprised them any.
You always have to work harder to shock friends than strangers…ever notice that? And Family…Family you have to try hardest of all 😉