I recently heard the following story and just had to share it with you.

Library Worker is working at the circulation desk when a man walks in, muttering under his breath. His ramblings are loud enough for LW to clearly hear him say, “I am going to kill everybody. I am going to kill everybody. I am going to kill everybody.” LW is concerned; she has been trained to take any threat seriously. She watches the man pace the floor erratically, his body language getting more and more agitated. He tries to go into the restroom but it is occupied, and now he is starting to get angry. LW decides to call the police. As she’s talking to the police, the patron stands in front of the window to the workroom, staring right at her while she pretends to be on a business call. The man finally gets a turn in the restroom when the police arrive. As the man exits the restroom, the police throw him to the floor. The man yells, and is dragged outside kicking and screaming.

So a police officer is taking LW’s statement of what happened when this lady walks up. “That man didn’t do anything!” she yells. “He just wanted to use the restroom!” The officer lets her rant for a while, then leaves. The lady glares at LW and returns to her table. LW is concerned by how angry this woman is and goes up to her to explain what happened.

“I’m sorry you are so upset,” LW begins. “That man threatened to kill everyone here. He said, ‘I am going to kill everybody’.”

The lady glares at LW even more, and with all the seriousness she could muster says, “Did it ever occur to you that ‘IM’ stands for the International Machinists Union,  and it’s the International Machinists Union that’s going to kill everybody?”

LW backs away slowly, marveling at the different kinds of crazy she encounters on a daily basis.