"Now Ah have a skill that nobody can take f'om me."

[muckefuck]

A patron came in with a problem: She got her card stuck in a vending machine two days ago and hadn't been able to get it out. She asked if we could call Facilities for help, but I happen to know our man is out fishing this week (and not much use even when he's in). So I called the card-issuing office. The guy there told me he couldn't leave before 2 p.m., but I could try extracting it myself using a push pen[*]. I was sceptical, but I tried the method he advised--stabbing the card from underneath and gently inching it forward--and was surprised at how well it worked. Not sure how transferable the skill is, but it's going on my résumé all the same!

(The best part of it was the change in the patron. She's cursed with one of those perennial hangdog faces and an apparent undercurrent of disgust in her voice that just makes me viscerally unwilling to fulfill any request she makes. But when I held up her card, she burst into probably the closest approximation of joy she's capable of. I feel like I can heal the sick now.)

[*] "Push pin" for those of you who are not pin-pen merged like I am.

Comments

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pin-pen merger reference.

I bought a bag of ink pens that was labeled "stick pens" to confuse the issue.