— Patron: “I’m looking for a book.”
— Mental answer 1: “Well, you’re in the right place.”
— Mental answer 2: “Here’s one.” (Hand over nearest volume.)
— Audible answer : “Can you be a little more specific?”
— Patron: “I got a quote from a book I turned in last week but I forgot to write down the author and title. It’s big and red and I found it on the top shelf. Can you find it for me?”
— Mental answer: “Books classified by color are shelved downstairs in the [non-existent] third sub-basement.”
— Audible answer: “What were you looking for when you found the book the first time?”
— Patron: “Do you have anything good to read?”
— Reference person getting her audible and mental answers mixed up: “No, ma´am. I’m afraid we have 75,000 books, and they’re all terrible”.
Vocabulary Help
- find (find, found, found) – encontrar, achar
- forget (forget, forgot, forgotten) – esquecer
- I’m afraid – temo que
- look for – procurar
- mixed up – misturadas
- nearest – mais próximo
- quote – citação
- shelved – colocados nas estantes
- turned in – entreguei
- week – semana