The Annoyance Coma
It’s a headphone day. I’m very easily distracted by people talking when I’m trying to read or write. There are a couple of people at work whose voices have become beyond irritating to me. When I hear them it’s like I go into some kind of annoyance coma. My brain shuts down and I can’t do anything. I think what I have latched onto about these voices is that they are different from what I normally hear. One person has a very flat, nasal, northeastern accent, and the other sounds like a record player playing at the wrong speed (too slow). Kind of like Lurch from the Addams Family. When I was working on my final paper for my management class last week I almost flipped out. I planned on having two days at work where I could get a lot of work done, but the coma-inducing voices were driving me absolutely b*&%^$t crazy. When I’m trying to do some real writing I don’t like to have music playing either. But if the choice is between music or annoying voices, music wins. At least now that I don’t have anything important to accomplish I can rock the music. Do any of you get easily distracted by voices, or am I just super-weird?
I got A’s in my summer classes! This was not a sure thing because I got a C on my management midterm paper, which was 25% of my grade. That was the one where I had to observe a library manager. I overlooked some of the instructions and left out part of what we were supposed to talk about. Killed the final though. Speaking of libraries, yesterday there was a really cool article in the New York Times about librarians. You can check it out here. It makes being a librarian sound cool! It’s very true that lots of people have misconceptions about what it’s like to be a librarian these days. Bekka, I would like to hear your take on the article since you’re a librarian and all. In the classes I have had where we had face to face meetings I have noticed a few alterna-people. Still not the majority by any means though.
I got A’s in my summer classes! This was not a sure thing because I got a C on my management midterm paper, which was 25% of my grade. That was the one where I had to observe a library manager. I overlooked some of the instructions and left out part of what we were supposed to talk about. Killed the final though. Speaking of libraries, yesterday there was a really cool article in the New York Times about librarians. You can check it out here. It makes being a librarian sound cool! It’s very true that lots of people have misconceptions about what it’s like to be a librarian these days. Bekka, I would like to hear your take on the article since you’re a librarian and all. In the classes I have had where we had face to face meetings I have noticed a few alterna-people. Still not the majority by any means though.
Labels: A Fine Whine
posted by JC at 11:15 AM
11 Comments:
Oh I find it very hard to concentrate when I hear annoying voices. Music/tv also counts.
hey-yay for the a's. Good going.
You're going to be a cool librarian. The heat is forcing me to talk in very short sentances.
are you in a cubby? i have an office with door and i close it frequently because sometimes my department is filled to the brim with chatty kathys. if i didn't close the door, no doubt i'd blow a fuse, throw something, you know, act ugly and unprofessional.
read the same NYTimes article as you. i guess i have mixed feelings. thought it was good to showcase those hip librarians, but since they all live in Brooklyn, where everyone is hip, it seemed a moo point (as joey says). was cool that the article pointed out that the profession attracts lots of converts. but there's always been a segment of people, who worked in libraries. bet there were beats and bohos and hippies in libraries way before the hipsters came. i think there's at least one or two "hipsters" in each library. but you have a lot of the "old guard," too. the people who are fashion victims, who are socially retarded. but you have that in every profession. it's just a stereotype. there's a lot of variety in the library. and someday those hot young hipsters will be yesterdays hipster and the hot new younguns will be oh-so-embarrassed by their elder-brethren-librarians.
but in my actual academic library? no colored hair, no visible tats, no visible piercings. i could do all that since i'm tenured. but mostly, it's the student workers who cultivate that alterna-image.
what did you think about the term guybrarian? or manbrarian?
I wrote a novel for a class when I was in college that I basically wore headphones while writing and I still listen to headphones when I write or paint...even if there is silence. (or I have my sound system on, depending on if I am alone or not) I cant stand activity around me when I am trying to concentrate
Good job in school. Man, I don't miss grades and school.
Thanks everybody!
Nope, no office door. I'm in a cube farm. Earlier today Lurch was talking to The Nor-easter, so it was a double beatdown!
I was less interested in the hipster angle of the article than the career changing aspect. As well as the "libraries are not just books" angle. I guess because those two aspects speak the most to my situation. I also liked that it's a positive portrayal of the profession, when most of what I get when I tell people I'm in library school is "Why do you want to do that?" or "Can't people just use Google?" or most often, a blank look. I just thought it was kind of cool to see something in a public forum that captures some of the excitement that I feel about the profession.
Lord knows I'm not a hipster. And there are no hipsters working at my local public library.
I thought the guybrarian thing was funny.
Um... I could look up countless blog posts from my days in Crazyworld - where I thought I would lose my ever-lovin' mind from that woman who sat in the cubicle next to me. She spoke 7 different languages and was constantly shouting in a combination of them - all while playing this monotonous music of finger cymbals. I could almost snap just thinking about it.
I have a cousin who is a librarian. He ranks among the most brilliant people in our family, and our family is plagued with MENSA freaks.
You're going to be happy. Dammit - so be happy!!!
ok so i have to read the article. It's about Brookynites as librarians? oh I have almost had it up to here with..., but I'll read it.
When I worked in DC, I sat next to a woman with the most annoying voice I've ever heard. My work friends and I (bitches that we were) used to imitate her when she wasn't around because it was so god awful. Imagine nails on a chalkboard... and soooo f'ing LOUD!
Seriously grating and monotone and a Philly accent to top it all off. She was wretched, and she talked all day long on the phone to her family (she even called her father "daddy").
And now I blame you for forcing me to remember that woman, Nicole, and the cubicle hell I lived in for 4 years. That I am returning to next month. OMG, what am I doing?!?!
That was the one thing I hated about working in an office, the extra chatter and unnecessary conversations I had to listen to. Now if it had been interesting...
Congratulations on the good grades. A librarian degree with honors perhaps??
Congrats on your A'S! I wonder if my husbands Brain goes into "The Annoyance Coma" He thinks I ask too many questions and is always saying "Any other brain buster's?"
Congrats on the A's! I have to wait weeks (or even longer) for my paper to be graded.
ok I read it now. I'm not so keen on the guybrarian name. And oh yeah williamsburg-everyone is sick of hearing about williamsburg
I like how the profession appeals to a younger crowd though. There is one older librarian who hates me, but I digress.
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