Surviving The Wild: The Interrupting Patron
There is a type of patron that is found throughout society but predominantly infests the lovely villages of Mountain Brook. They have the ability to trick normal humans with basic camouflage of civility. One might not even know they are interacting with these creatures until halfway through the conversation where they remove their human flesh revealing what they truly are…”THE OVERTALKERS!”
These creatures are subtle but dangerous causing unnecessary grief and stress which, I think, can lead to high blood pressure and possibly murder.
Usually an overtalker will lead you into their trap by asking a question. This question is always in reference to a policy concerning your work so you know the policy thoroughly. When you try to answer this simple question they immediately start talking over you in a long-winded manner, trying to declare that they know more than you… or something. I really don’t know what the internal makings of these creatures to determine why they do the things they do.
Today I ran into one and it went as accordingly…
A patron wanted to know why he didn’t get the email notice when his reserve book was ready to pick up. So he asked me. I then tried to respond with the answer, which is “the email is filter to your spam folder so if you add the email address to your contacts then you should start getting the notifications.”
What actually was said: “look through your spam email because sometimes they can filter——-“
Where the overtalker interrupted with “yeah oh yeah ye ye yeah spam oh ok. I get a lot of things that are filter through spam and I get a lot of spam. Spam blah, blah blah.”
Then silence.
Then he looked at me still wondering what he should do. I quickly and easily told him
“so just add the email to your contact…you should get your notifications.”
The technique.
Do not try to over talk an overtalker. You can win, but what you win doesn’t suffice all the extra grief, stress and dare I say bullshit? The correct action is to let them interrupt. Let them talk out the wrong and long-winded answer to the question THEY ASKED YOU. And you? You just zone out. Play dead. Contemplate life. I like to take these seconds (sometimes minutes) to wonder about the little things…
Will Mr. L come into the library today?
Am I going out tonight or staying in?
Do I hope Mr. L comes into the library?
Once you hear the overtalker run out of words to say, take one more second and finish the conversation with the simple answer you tried to tell them. This usually sends them on their way, scurrying to the next poor victim helpless at work for the public.
The good news is…if you see them outside of your established employment, well then, you can just punch them in the face.
