July 19, 2011
It never fails to surprise me that there are women who ought to know better who are such vicious advocates against their own rights.
I've been going to the library at the Department of Libraries for several days. There are public access computers here. The library is usually empty or almost empty.
The Attorney General's office is around the corner; it's the next office over.
There have been "Wet Floor" signs on the completely dry floors of women's bathrooms on the first and the second floor since the first day I got here. Oddly, on the first day I was here, after seeing that, I knocked and got no answer at the door of the men's restroom on the second floor. I looked in, and there was a Wet Floor sign there, also.
However, there's no doubt that I'm being harassed by the janitor; there's been a lot of coughing out in the hallway. There's also been some very loud coughing by one of the male librarians, and today, the other male librarian told me that he "wished he had my focus" to write. I told him that it's different when you're waiting on people; it's a different kind of concentrataion. He said "Yes, I wish I had some juicy project to work on."
That's another example of my being completely polite and even kind to someone who then takes advantage of it to be disgusting and abusive; I've NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO THAT GUY, or to anyone in this building.
I don't think that the librarians at the law library have to have law degrees to work here. Unfortunately, no matter what kind of degree or how many degrees someone has, bigotry is something that is extremely resistant both to things such as education and to the sort of rational thought that anyone could work through in a day, if so motivated. When people don't want to understand something, they will work diligently to avoid understanding it.
There isn't any reason for Wet Floor signs to stay where there isn't any Wet Floor. I've worked plenty of jobs where mopping floors was done every day, and I know that you don't leave those signs where there is no Wet Floor; you only use them after you've mopped or if the floor is wet because someone dropped something on it, and once the floor is dry, you put the signs away. Otherwise, people can trip on them, the way they would trip on anything that was out on the floor where it's not supposed to be.
Today, after the janitor had been far off in the hallway and I could still hear him coughing, I went out and put the Wet Floor sign back on his cart. I put it on the two hooks that are part of his janitor's cart and that exist for the purpose of holding signs just like that one.
He went to the female librarian, who is perhaps in charge of this library, and they talked in her office for a few minutes. When he left, he looked ecstatic; he looked right at me and gave several, loud, fake coughs as he left.
The librarian looked amused, and soon after that was talking to someone else in her office, still looking amused.
I opened the door of her office and said "There's no reason for there to be a Wet Floor sign on a completely dry restroom floor."
The librarian was obviously laughing at me, and she told me that the sign needed to stay in the restroom all the time. I said "It's harassment and you know it. I can't understand women who participate in this." Then I closed the door to her office, a bit sharply, and went back to what I had been doing on the computer.
A few minutes later, the female librarian, who is probably in her 50's, walked over to me and told me "It's not your place to move those signs."
I told her "Those signs are meant to indicate the presence of wet floor, and there isn't any wet floor in that bathroom."
She said "Those signs are placemarkers; he needs to keep them there because he mops the floor every day."
I said "Those signs are supposed to indicate the presence of wet floor. I've worked plenty of service jobs, and I know that you don't leave those signs out when the floor is dry."
She said, again, "It's not your place to move the signs; you need to leave them where they are."
I said "No, I don't. It's harassment. If it weren't for women's rights, you wouldn't even have a job here."
She said "That's not the point."
I said "It absolutely is."
She said "You need to leave the signs where they are."
I said "No."
She also accused me of having slammed the Wet Floor sign onto the janitor's cart, which I hadn't done. I had put the sign as gently as anyone could back onto the cart, on the hooks where it's supposed to go. She wasn't there to see what had happened; the janitor must have lied to her.
Before I put the sign back on the cart, I had tried just to give it back to him. I had gone back into the library, and he had kept going with his loud, fake coughing. When I went back out into that hallway again, I saw that he had propped the Wet Floor sign up on the wall around the corner from the restroom, where there was completely dry carpet. That was when I picked up the sign again and went and put it on his cart.
After I'd told her "No," again, she walked away.
Then she checked the women's restroom, where the janitor hadn't yet but perhaps soon will replace the Wet Floor sign on the completely dry floor.
She paced back and forth in front of me for a while, and then started talking to someone else in her office. Before I signed out of Weebly, I wrote most of what's here, which I've just edited and added to somewhat.
There's one thing she didn't mention, but which I also wasn't doing on purpose; a few times, as I was getting up from the desk where I was working on a computer, I hit my knee against the desk. That made a loud sound; however, it's very likely something that happens to a lot of people who use those computers.
I went to the first floor to leave. Three security guards were at the front desk. Usually, there's only one security guard, to check people in and out of the building. Before I left, I used the restroom, where there has also been a Wet Floor sign on completely dry floor since the first day I started using the library.
Copyright L. Kochman July 19, 2011 @ 12:20 p.m./addition @ 12:24 p.m./edits and additions @ 6:16 p.m.
It never fails to surprise me that there are women who ought to know better who are such vicious advocates against their own rights.
I've been going to the library at the Department of Libraries for several days. There are public access computers here. The library is usually empty or almost empty.
The Attorney General's office is around the corner; it's the next office over.
There have been "Wet Floor" signs on the completely dry floors of women's bathrooms on the first and the second floor since the first day I got here. Oddly, on the first day I was here, after seeing that, I knocked and got no answer at the door of the men's restroom on the second floor. I looked in, and there was a Wet Floor sign there, also.
However, there's no doubt that I'm being harassed by the janitor; there's been a lot of coughing out in the hallway. There's also been some very loud coughing by one of the male librarians, and today, the other male librarian told me that he "wished he had my focus" to write. I told him that it's different when you're waiting on people; it's a different kind of concentrataion. He said "Yes, I wish I had some juicy project to work on."
That's another example of my being completely polite and even kind to someone who then takes advantage of it to be disgusting and abusive; I've NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO THAT GUY, or to anyone in this building.
I don't think that the librarians at the law library have to have law degrees to work here. Unfortunately, no matter what kind of degree or how many degrees someone has, bigotry is something that is extremely resistant both to things such as education and to the sort of rational thought that anyone could work through in a day, if so motivated. When people don't want to understand something, they will work diligently to avoid understanding it.
There isn't any reason for Wet Floor signs to stay where there isn't any Wet Floor. I've worked plenty of jobs where mopping floors was done every day, and I know that you don't leave those signs where there is no Wet Floor; you only use them after you've mopped or if the floor is wet because someone dropped something on it, and once the floor is dry, you put the signs away. Otherwise, people can trip on them, the way they would trip on anything that was out on the floor where it's not supposed to be.
Today, after the janitor had been far off in the hallway and I could still hear him coughing, I went out and put the Wet Floor sign back on his cart. I put it on the two hooks that are part of his janitor's cart and that exist for the purpose of holding signs just like that one.
He went to the female librarian, who is perhaps in charge of this library, and they talked in her office for a few minutes. When he left, he looked ecstatic; he looked right at me and gave several, loud, fake coughs as he left.
The librarian looked amused, and soon after that was talking to someone else in her office, still looking amused.
I opened the door of her office and said "There's no reason for there to be a Wet Floor sign on a completely dry restroom floor."
The librarian was obviously laughing at me, and she told me that the sign needed to stay in the restroom all the time. I said "It's harassment and you know it. I can't understand women who participate in this." Then I closed the door to her office, a bit sharply, and went back to what I had been doing on the computer.
A few minutes later, the female librarian, who is probably in her 50's, walked over to me and told me "It's not your place to move those signs."
I told her "Those signs are meant to indicate the presence of wet floor, and there isn't any wet floor in that bathroom."
She said "Those signs are placemarkers; he needs to keep them there because he mops the floor every day."
I said "Those signs are supposed to indicate the presence of wet floor. I've worked plenty of service jobs, and I know that you don't leave those signs out when the floor is dry."
She said, again, "It's not your place to move the signs; you need to leave them where they are."
I said "No, I don't. It's harassment. If it weren't for women's rights, you wouldn't even have a job here."
She said "That's not the point."
I said "It absolutely is."
She said "You need to leave the signs where they are."
I said "No."
She also accused me of having slammed the Wet Floor sign onto the janitor's cart, which I hadn't done. I had put the sign as gently as anyone could back onto the cart, on the hooks where it's supposed to go. She wasn't there to see what had happened; the janitor must have lied to her.
Before I put the sign back on the cart, I had tried just to give it back to him. I had gone back into the library, and he had kept going with his loud, fake coughing. When I went back out into that hallway again, I saw that he had propped the Wet Floor sign up on the wall around the corner from the restroom, where there was completely dry carpet. That was when I picked up the sign again and went and put it on his cart.
After I'd told her "No," again, she walked away.
Then she checked the women's restroom, where the janitor hadn't yet but perhaps soon will replace the Wet Floor sign on the completely dry floor.
She paced back and forth in front of me for a while, and then started talking to someone else in her office. Before I signed out of Weebly, I wrote most of what's here, which I've just edited and added to somewhat.
There's one thing she didn't mention, but which I also wasn't doing on purpose; a few times, as I was getting up from the desk where I was working on a computer, I hit my knee against the desk. That made a loud sound; however, it's very likely something that happens to a lot of people who use those computers.
I went to the first floor to leave. Three security guards were at the front desk. Usually, there's only one security guard, to check people in and out of the building. Before I left, I used the restroom, where there has also been a Wet Floor sign on completely dry floor since the first day I started using the library.
Copyright L. Kochman July 19, 2011 @ 12:20 p.m./addition @ 12:24 p.m./edits and additions @ 6:16 p.m.