I’ve talked to my doctor like a sane person should, and had my happy pill dose doubled but it’s done not as much as one would hope to help me pull out of this slump. I head home from work with the intention of crafting or writing till my boy wakes up on the other side of the world, and instead I nap, or sit here in front of the PC bouncing around the internet. It’s nice and brainless.

I’m working on getting out of the gloom, but it’s taking some big scary steps which I’d like to hide from for a long time. I am not a brave person actually, despite my big mouth and sometimes bigger personality. I’m a smartarse, but I’m not overly brave. Switching jobs is utterly and indescribably terrifying, but it HAS to be done.

I’m annoyed that my leave has to be reset in a new job too, because with Matt moving over next year I would have liked to had some time off to hang out and introduce him to Aussie things like meat pies and AFL football (not that I give a flying fig about sport, but he seems to enjoy it because he’s weird).

So yeah. I’m not in a happy place at the moment.

I’m aware there’s a lot of grumbling in the Library Industry about how it’s “unrealistic” and “They’d never get away with that sort of thing” but please, people, it’s a sitcom. Are you honestly telling me you think “Porridge” was an expose on the prison system in the UK? That ANYONE actually loves Raymond? Relax!

I love the characters, not just because Francis seems to be based in several parts on people I know in libraries. I love the variations in personality and the insanity running not too far under the surface. Sure, skipping a library bus stop wouldn’t be let go like it was in last nights episode, but the general feel of the show isn’t too far off the mark in my opinion.

Maybe that’s why there’s so many grumblings, because library staff feel it cuts too close to the bone in some cases (example, one of my favourite scenes in the last series was a night time event which was attended almost entirely by library staff – I laughed for about 20 solid minutes at that because it’s happened to us too many times).

However, as Wayne Hope said, it’s not REALLY about libraries, it’s about Francis. She just happens to be a Librarian. While my workmates heap scorn upon it, I will continue to love it wildly, because even if it wasn’t a library show, Wayne Hope and Robin Butler write excellent comedy.

Just yesterday a woman complained that I was letting her kids run riot. I said it wasn’t in my job description to shout at children, but if I saw them doing anything dangerous I’d step in. She bitched me out for not having enough Rules and Laws and Shouting at Small Children. She said she granted me special permission to yell at her kids. I refused.

Basic reason is this: I. Could. Lose. My. Job. Yes, I could. Let’s say instead of saying “Could you guys watch the volume please?” I said “Hey you little bastards, shut the hell up or get the hell out!”, or even “Shut up or get out”. It takes one child saying “The Lady in the Library was mean to me today” and I’m out. Seriously. Take this woman I was just talking about, SHE might WANT me to yell at her kids, but if I do and someone overhears and complains? Again, gone.

It’s driving me mental and it IS getting worse: parents are expecting anyone around to discipline their kids. It seems like Mum and Dad don’t want to be tha Bad Guys so they let other people do it. Charming. I don’t plan on having kids because I would be a dreadful mother, and since I spend a lot of hours a day making sure kids don’t run out the doors, climb shelves or beat each other senseless while Mum or Dad looks the other way, I feel like I’ve had enough kids to last me a lifetime anyways.

And it pisses me right off. As a Customer Service person, there’s literally no horror like that of someone enslaved to their phone. They ask for help, the phone rings and they answer it and launch into a 10 minute conversation. What’s the service person to do? It’s actually a tough choice. You can wait for the conversation to finish, and possibly ignore anyone else who may be needing help. The other option is to walk away and come back when they hang up the phone (which, can I just add, is very rarely a vital or important conversation. When you hear as many full volume calls as I do, you know it’s almost always about curtains or meeting for lunch in three weeks).

That second option is the tricky one, because you never know how the person with the phone will react when you come back. Some are nice, understanding that they were at fault for answering a phone in the middle of the conversation.  Others will rip shreds off you for daring to walk away from them. Hello?

Mobile phones are, without question, important tools these days. I hate leaving the house without one, not because I get a lot of calls but because if my car explodes it’s nice to know I can call someone and say “Um. Bugger”.  At work I’m a slave to the phone, I can’t stand it ringing for more than5 rings. That’s more because the sound annoys me, to be honest, than any kind of excellence in customer service. However, my mobile phone is set to silent ring and loud SMS alert. I’m weird like that.

The other time mobile phones should be jumped at and pounced on is if you’re waiting for actual news (not what colour curtains so and so picked, but perhaps that someone’s had the baby). Being 100% contactable in the case of family or friend emergency is important, and mobiles are excellent in these cases. I would say vital.

While I’m on the subject (ooh this is getting long) what’s with the driving and talking? Can you really not stand to be in constant contact with someone? I love my car time, I can sing off key, pluck my eyebrows (not while moving) and basically just let the belly hang out and relax. I don’t want a phone clamped to my ear in my me time, thanks.  Hang the thing up, concentrate on the road and call them when you get to where you’re going. Got a call you need to take? Pull over. People do it. Sane people do it. They find a spot to pull over and take the call or ring the person back. It’s really not complicated.

Finally, try this. You’re having a conversation, your phone rings. Try pulling it out of your pocket, answering it and saying “Hi, can I call you back?”.