How Did You Do That?

            Over the years working in the public library, I have acquired the “Don’t give up too soon” spirit. Whenever a customer came to me with a problem the challenge itself would excite me right away; my eyes would lighten up as if an unexpected prize just landed on me and my heartbeat would race and pound very hard and fast as if I was competing at certain track and field game.

            “How did you do that?” said the lady sitting beside me as I was kneeling at her right side trying hard to figure out how to copy and paste a document a fried of her sent to her. The editor was not working and the format of the document was a bit different from the system our library provides. After many times of standing up and kneeling down pondering ways to complete the task, the screen finally cleared up and, together, we found ourselves reading the document and the cursor was moving to places we would like it to go.

            The lady was excited and so was I. She leaned back and high fived with me. She then asked how I made it happen. “I don’t know. I just don’t give up too soon. That’s all.” We laughed out with excitement and delight. “You made my day.” I thanked the lady for the opportunity to exercise my curiosity and computer skills. “No, you made my day.” The lady joyfully corrected me and shook hands with me. Satisfied, I left the lady and walked back to the staff work area.

            Later, as I was manning the Cir desk, this same lady stopped by and told me she was going to share what happened today with her son telling him how a librarian helped her. “Did you send the revised copy to your email?” I reminded her as she was leaving the building. “I sure did. Thank you.” “Have a wonderful day.”

            I am glad that by not giving up too soon the lady and I found a solution at the end. In my mind a good employee is a problem solver. A customer came to us with trust and usually with certain request or problem she would like to place or seek solutions or answers. Each and every request is opportunity of training and educating. The bigger the problem the more satisfaction the reward will provide.

            At the workplace I call home is full of fun, surprise, and rewards. Every smile I got told me I did a good job and sent a customer home with a touch of happiness. Each thank-you I gained told me I made another progress.

Santa Claus does exist: the spirit of giving.