Comments on: Yes, It Is Boring. And, No, You Can’t Do Something Else

By: Josie Leavitt

Josie Leavitt — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:57:29 +0000

Thanks. The great thing now is the young staffer volunteered to re-alphbetize the poetry section because it was making him crazy!

By: Anne Driscoll

Anne Driscoll — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 15:36:07 +0000

What a great post! I was laughing about your “intimidating look” – classic! I love that the first task is alphabetizing, you don’t realize how much you are taking in by completing such a mundane task, but the results are well worth the effort.
Thanks for writing about this – you made my morning start off with a giggle & a knowing smile!

By: Simon Collinson

Simon Collinson — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 07:50:07 +0000

Thanks for this piece. I was hired as a part time bookseller at 18, and I’m sure I’ve given my boss a few headaches over the years (alphabetising was certainly one of them). I’m now 22, still at the bookstore, and hopefully a much better, more tedium-tolerant employee.

By: Kitti

Kitti — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 16:35:24 +0000

good idea!

By: Shelver506

Shelver506 — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 19:05:09 +0000

Oh dear. I’m not THAT much older than the teenagers in question, but there must be some difference, because I LOVE alphabetizing! I think the order is soothing.

Being on the register, however, makes me want to pluck my eyes out.

By: Kat Kan

Kat Kan — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 00:49:46 +0000

Had to chuckle at this post. My 17-year-old son has been volunteering at our local public library for a couple of years now; his main job is reshelving books and AV materials. The library staff in Youth Services love him because he doesn’t care that the work is kind of boring; he just keeps going, quietly, getting the job done. Now, if he can keep that work ethic going for anything else in his life (school, college – he’s going to be a senior this year), then I hope he can do well in his life. One of my early jobs, from my freshman year in college, was reshelving books in the college library. I’ve been working with books ever since then, as a bookseller and a librarian, and now with a book distributor AND in a school library.

By: jacqie

jacqie — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 22:46:47 +0000

The last line in your post is made of win. It put a smile on my face!

By: Dionna

Dionna — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:39:18 +0000

Excellent post! I wonder how those sighing-with-boredom teens would feel if they worked with my husband (like my 16-year-old son does) washing windows on a 100 degree summer day with 100% humidity hanging in the air! I bet alphabetizing picture books in an air-conditioned bookstore wouldn’t be so boring then!

By: Evelyn Krieger

Evelyn Krieger — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:17:02 +0000

I’d attribute this intolerance of mundane work to a general lack of experience with activities such as: doing dishes, folding laundry, mowing lawns, dog-walking, weeding–things kids used to be expected to do. Instead, today’s teens have grown up on a steady diet of enrichment activities, electronics, and video games. So, like, duh dude, alphabetizing sucks!!
You gotta love ‘em, though.

By: Lauren T

Lauren T — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 23:25:40 +0000

I’m going to share this post with my 15-1/2 yr old son. Hope he finds it amusing and oddly relevant. (Ha ha.) Here’s a motto for adolescents (of all ages) everywhere: the only thing inherently boring is boredom itself. Or, as I read somewhere, if you’re bored, you’re not paying enough attention.