I was at a government office yesterday to cover an event and since I was an hour and a half early, I decided to drop by the library and have a look around.
The moment I entered I saw the librarian sitting behind the counter in front of her computer. I greeted her with a smile and asked for permission if I can hang around and told her I was early for the event. She just gave me nod and went back to her computer. I purposely did not introduce myself that I was a librarian, too. There was another library staff, whom I assume to be a clerk, at the far side of the counter pruning the edges of catalog cards.
There were no newspapers around so I just went to the other end of the library where the periodicals were. I scanned the titles on display and took out those that interested me. While I was skimming over the magazines, I heard male voices behind the stacks, which was a restricted area. I thought what a happy bunch those guys were and wondered what they were doing. So I walked a bit pretending to scan the books that were locked behind glass panes (yes, I was amused no end to see these in an office that is supposed to be development-oriented). And lo and behold, the guys who I thought were hapily working behind the stacks were actually playing chess! At 1:30 in the afternoon! Is that what they get paid for? And yes, the librarian was pretty much aware of what was going on.
I went back to my reading and suddenly recalled calling this same library several months ago to ask for assistance on a module I was doing. The guy I spoke to was not really very helpful at all and so I thought maybe he was also busy playing chess then as the guys I saw. What is disheartening is that this is not an isolated case. I know of a big government library whose employees engage in card games when their boss is not around.
Could this be a reflection of the entire bureaucracy? I can only shake my head in disbelief.
There were no newspapers around so I just went to the other end of the library where the periodicals were. I scanned the titles on display and took out those that interested me. While I was skimming over the magazines, I heard male voices behind the stacks, which was a restricted area. I thought what a happy bunch those guys were and wondered what they were doing. So I walked a bit pretending to scan the books that were locked behind glass panes (yes, I was amused no end to see these in an office that is supposed to be development-oriented). And lo and behold, the guys who I thought were hapily working behind the stacks were actually playing chess! At 1:30 in the afternoon! Is that what they get paid for? And yes, the librarian was pretty much aware of what was going on.
I went back to my reading and suddenly recalled calling this same library several months ago to ask for assistance on a module I was doing. The guy I spoke to was not really very helpful at all and so I thought maybe he was also busy playing chess then as the guys I saw. What is disheartening is that this is not an isolated case. I know of a big government library whose employees engage in card games when their boss is not around.
Could this be a reflection of the entire bureaucracy? I can only shake my head in disbelief.
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