Usually, men are few and far between in library work. But I had a brief period where not only was I the only man around, I actually had two other dudes working in my branch out of a staff complement of ten.
As a bonus, we all had a similar look so we joked about how that gave me coverage:
Patron: “Well, that *man* said I could do it!”
Female staff member: “Which man?”
Patron: “The tall one.”
Female staff member: “I’m sorry, you’ll have to be more specific – we have three tall men working here.”
Patron: “The tall one with glasses.”
Female staff member: “I’m sorry, you’ll have to be more specific – we have three tall men with glasses working here.”
Patron: “The tall one with glasses and a beard!”
Female staff member: “I’m sorry, you’ll have to be more specific – we have three tall men with glasses and a beard working here.”
By that point, the patron would usually be exasperated and storm off leaving me free of having to deal with the original issue they raised! 😉
But it all seriousness, both were good guys who were great fits for my branch and though I miss them, I’m happy each has moved on to bigger and better things at other branches.
And we still get to see each other on occasion as was the case at some recent staff training when I managed to snap the above selfie.