But Taxes Paid for it....

I thought I was going to have a nice quiet Friday as usual. Then about 20 minutes before lunch I get a citizen who is a complete asshole.

A middle aged black man (this is relevant later) comes up to my desk and asks to use the law library. At first I thought he meant that he's looking for court records as they have a computer to look up court cases on the 6th floor. I start to direct him there but he insists this is where he needs to be and wants to use the law library.

Now the Law office does have what they call a law library but its really just a conference room with some law reference books on a book shelf. I let the man know this and that it isn't open to the public. He asks me if it is paid for with tax dollars which is is as is everything here but that doesn't mean the public can just come use whatever they want. I tried explaining this but he kept arguing with me. So I called one of the ladies in the office as I needed some backup in telling him no. She asked one of the lawyers who also said no, its not open to the public and mentioned where one could be found (just a few blocks down the street). While I'm on the phone with her though, he's pulled out his cell phone and the back is facing me and suddenly the light on it lights up. I ask him to not take a picture of me. He says he isn't. I say well the light has lit up on the back of your phone and it is blinding me, please turn it away. I found out later that he was recording everything. I let him know once again that the library is not open to the public and gave him the address of the one he could go to.

But he kept arguing with me saying that if it was paid for with taxes that the public should be able to use it. Nothing I said mattered. I tried explaining that not everything paid for with tax dollars is available for public use and he asked for an example. The only thing I could think of was the jail next door, so I said, well the jail is paid for with tax money but you can't just walk in there. Of course he asks why someone would want to. Well, if you are an advocate for inmates rights you might want to walk in and see how things are done in there, but they won't let you. He responds with "What if I'm an advocate for human rights?" I responded along the lines of it being the same thing but at this point I should have known what he was doing. He just kept arguing with me and started asking me if I was comparing inmates to books or something like that. I called into the Law office again and asked to have someone else come out who could possible explain better why it is not open to the public. While I'm on the phone he says "yes, see if someone can explain it to me in Black and White". Thankfully I didn't respond to that bait but he didn't stop even after I hung up.

I finally told him that I was no longer speaking to him and refused to say another word. Two of our lawyers came out and proceeded to tell him the same things that I was telling him though he kept arguing with them. After a few minutes two security officers stepped off the elevator and stood at my desk. They never said a word to him but I believe they are why he finally left. He argued for just a couple more minutes after they arrived and then left. I really think he would have sat and argued with us all day had they not come up to help.

This happened just before lunch and its nearly time to go home, but I'm still shaken up about it. Especially because he was recording it and I just know its going to be uploaded somewhere and misused to support some stupid cause that he is obviously a part of. I realized far to late into the encounter that he was being deliberately obtuse in an effort to prove some sort of point.

He ruined my Friday and I want it back. I have a bottle of Tequila Cream in the fridge that I bought in Cozumel that tonight just might be the night to break it out.