Suicide Poem

This week I was a judge for a system-wide teen poetry contest. Almost all the teen poems were dark and "angsty" but one poem stood out from the rest, it was entitled "Suicide." The poem detailed the way this teen wanted to die and how much they wished to kill themselves.

I was disturbed by this poem and started contacting the other judges in the contest about it. To my surprise, they did not share the same reaction. One said she was not disturbed by the poem and another said that the teen was just "angsty" and being emotional. I insisted that this poem was a suicide threat and should be taken seriously but while I found agreement among my immediate coworkers the others who had judged the poem saw the situation differently.

I knew I could not just sit still and do nothing so I took the poem up to administration. They took the poem seriously and told me to contact the writer and provide them with the number of the employee counselor. I did this and also gave the writer the suicide hotline number. I have not heard back from this individual but I could not help from being unnerved from the whole incident. Have some of us as librarians become so jaded that we dismiss a teen's wish for death as "angst"? It is true that teens write depressing prose every day but it is also true that teens kill themselves every day.

Monsters Under the Bed

I had a "monsters" storytime this week. After I read a story about a little monster who has humans under his bed I asked the kids "Do any of you have monsters under your bed?" I didn't expect a response but several hands shot up in the air, "I do, I do! Me, me!" They were so excited to have monsters under their beds. I guess their monsters weren't that scary.

I also read a book about 10 things to do with your monster. Among the activities to do with your scaled or slimy friend were living next to a pet store because monsters eat lots of food and never naming your monster Fluffy. (It suggested you name your monster Bob or Biff.) After the storytime we made monster faces with paper plates, tissue paper and other various odds and ends. I asked a child what he was going to name his monster and he said (in complete seriousness) "I'm not going to name him Fluffy!"

Sick Story

I've stayed home from work today. This is thanks to my wonderful husband who has been sick for a month yet refuses to go to a doctor. (Typical male.) I felt sick the other week but got over it but then it came back with a vengeance yesterday afternoon. My throat got sore, I started sneezing and my nose turned into a faucet. I would just be sitting there typing at the computer when drops of snot would roll out of my nose at indiscriminate times. Very nasty.

At one point in the afternoon a patron called me over to help her with the computer. I leaned over her shoulder to look at the computer and then suddenly a big droplet of snot fell out of my nose and dropped onto her pants leg. I held my breath in shock. What do I do? I was presented with two options: a. Apologize profusely for my bodily fluids falling on her or b. Pretend it never happened

I took the coward's way out. After a millisecond pause I pointed at the screen. "Click on that there to save it," I said and then walked away. I do not know if that woman noticed the snot on her leg. I pray she didn't but I'm not sure since that was the last time she asked for help from me.

Four Little Words

I am turning into my parents.

The other day there were a group of rowdy teens who needed to be shown the door. I approached them and told them to leave the library and welcomed them to come back the next day. Of course, teens want to know WHY they're being punished so they questioned me "Why are we being kicked out?" I answered the way my parents would always say "Because I said so."

The most infuriating four words a teen can hear is "Because I said so." This is because those words leave no room for argument. The adult's word is law and there will be no debate. Teens love to debate and if they can get you to explain why they're being disciplined they will try a weasel a way out of the punishment any way they can.

I heard those four little words frequently as a teen and they made me want to bash my head against a wall. Now here I am using them against others. I have truly joined the ranks of uncool adulthood.