Today a patron came up to my desk in the library’s Computer Commons. He was a young Asian man, fairly stocky, and quite respectable-looking, except for the huge, opaque sunglasses that were covering his face. He had just used the library’s reservation system to make a reservation to use a computer, but he was displeased by where he’d been assigned.
“I was wondering,” the gentleman smiled, “whether I actually have to take that particular computer. Even though I have a reservation for computer 12, can I sit down at some other computer and use it instead?”
I assured him that he could, of course, do just as he pleased, and he was quite delighted.
“That’s terrific!” he noted. “You see, since I started wearing these polarized sunglasses, it becomes incredibly easy to see the future – and I can tell that this computer…” he pointed in the direction of computer 12, “has only 4 months left to it. So I would rather have a different computer!”
I showed him to another computer, though I admit I had to hold myself back from asking what he saw in my future. I mean, don’t you wish YOU had those polarized, future-seeing sunglasses?
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