How to Get Out of a Bad Conversation in Three Stitches or Fewer
While I was at a campaign event this weekend, a woman from New Jersey began talking to me. I was knitting in the round with circular needles. The woman, who said she has only knit scarves and a few baby sweaters, began asking me lots of questions about what I was doing. Then, she asked me what I did professionally. I told her I was a librarian. I was waiting for the next two questions to see how well I fit the stereotype: am I married and do I own any cats. Instead, she began to ask me if I had read a bunch of books she had read. I finally told her I don’t really read books and she balked at what I had said as if I had issued an insult at her mother. I told her that the belief that librarians read a lot is an untrue stereotype of our profession. I think I said it a manner that was a little harsher than I intended because she immediately stopped talking to me. I could just
imagine the discussion cascading into a discussion about my job and then having to explain special librarianship and all that and I was tired, I wanted to knit and not talk, and she was annoying anyway. Shame on me for not being a better ambassador for my profession, but at least I’m working hard to dispell the myth that librarians read a lot. I hope she doesn’t confuse someone who doesn’t read with someone who doesn’t like books. There’s a big difference. I love books. I just usually choose to do other activities instead of reading.
