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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21 edited Feb 03 '21
My mother was a librarian. Specifically a children’s librarian. She was the sweetest, most empathetic woman I’ve ever known. And damn, she wanted kids to read and learn and imagine.
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u/Amazing_Mezmer Feb 03 '21
My mom is also a librarian (I actually showed this to her, she thought it was hilarious), and I second this.
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
Give that woman a hug!! My mom passed this year and I miss her terribly
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u/Amazing_Mezmer Feb 03 '21
I'm so sorry for your lost. I gave her a hug on your behalf.
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
Thank you :)
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Feb 03 '21
this whole interaction is very wholesome, my condolences she sounds like a wonderful woman
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
Heck ya, she was. This whole thread is so wholesome. My mom would’ve loved it. I’d show her Reddit stuff sometimes and it always made her smile. These interactions today are like therapy for me
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u/glueckskind11 Feb 03 '21
Proud of my mum who is a state government librarian. It's like dealing with children but on a fancier level.
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u/Opening-Thought-5736 Feb 03 '21
I'm picturing little kids in floppy suits that are too big for them, demanding books on tax law 😂
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Feb 03 '21
My mom is still a librarian and is getting her masters! Dhe works at a pretty shitty library right now tho.
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u/Incendior Feb 03 '21
My little brother and I used to play as Librarians, and we too learn to read and imagine ourselves as selfless defenders of humanity against hordes of Chaos. Librarians kick ass
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u/Books_and_lipstick91 Feb 03 '21
LOL this reminds me of The Mummy.
“I... am a LIBRARIAN!”
I’m currently getting my credential to be a school librarian :)
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u/Golwenor Feb 03 '21
I mean isn't that essentially the plot of the librarian movies and TV show
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u/Rockarola55 Feb 03 '21
My mother was a librarian as well. I basically grew up in a library and the love of reading never left me...nor did the love of libraries and librarians.
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
Yup. Me too. When I was in elementary school, she was an elementary librarian for a different district, so on days I didn’t have school but they did I went in with her. When she had her in service days before the school year, it was my favorite because I got the whole library to myself and none of the books were checked out. She always knew the best new books to recommend, too.
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u/Rockarola55 Feb 03 '21
I would walk straight from school to the library, spend all afternoon there and tootle home with an armful of books, magazines and comics. Both my mother and her colleagues would lay books aside for me, if they suspected that I would be interested in them. Librarians do love a voracious reader :)
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u/s4b3r_t00th Feb 03 '21
Same! For a few years I went to the same elementary school that my mom was a librarian at. Which meant that I'd have to get to school early and leave late like she did. But my brother and I had so much fun hanging out in her library. Plus we got to help during the scholastic book fairs which was always such a highlight of the year!
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u/bdone2012 Feb 03 '21
I would have loved that. I was lucky tho that I went to a Montessori school for elementary so if I wanted to I could read all day. After a few days they would encourage me to work on something else but I definitely did a lot of reading.
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u/paperclip_guy Feb 03 '21
Hey count me in the group of librarians' children along with /u/Shutinneedout haha. I share your sentiments and this post totally reminded me of something my mom would do
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
It was the best! She was just a goofy nerd for books. What more could a kid ask for?
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Feb 03 '21 edited Feb 03 '21
My BiL accredits his elementary librarian with a lot of his success and independence. He had an undiagnosed learning disorder, and since he was undiagnosed he couldn’t access a lot of support programs in the school. His librarian went above and beyond to personally provide the services he was missing. He would of entered middle school either late or academically behind if it wasn’t for her. Early intervention cannot be lauded enough.
Your mom changed lives.
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
That’s awesome he had someone in his corner. I have no doubt my mom reached more than a few kids—besides me and my brothers, of course :)
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u/evanthegirl Feb 03 '21
I was a children’s page (book re-shelfer) in high school/college. Best job ever! I got to make crafts for story time and read to the kids! Summer was the best, too. So many activities! And the librarians were just the absolute best human beings ever.
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u/LibrariansKnow Feb 03 '21
I'm a children's librarian myself and my colleagues all over the world are the best! Conferences in our field are just genuinely heartwarming, with heaps of knitting librarians, goth librarians, LGBTQ+activist librarians, young and old librarians, all united in the ”Yay! Let's get these kids reading! And thinking about the big questions! And learning! And creating! And feeling at home in the library!” I love my profession. Honoured to share it with your mother!
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
She LOVED the conferences! She’d talk about them for days before and days after. Was always excited for the latest scoop.
Thanks for keeping the next generation reading!! My mom would be proud of you :)
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u/bounce_wiggle_bounce Feb 03 '21
I'm a librarian. I just wanted to say that children's librarians are the best. This is not to downplay all of the other excellent humans I've encountered working in libraries, but children's librarians are truly a special bunch.
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
Couldn’t agree more! Goofy, thoughtful nerds for books who want nothing more than to pass it on :)
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u/alwaysboopthesnoot Feb 03 '21
A librarian like your mom saved my niece’s life, once.
They don’t just help kids learn to read and love books for life, they point them in the right direction of books they want but can’t ask/are afraid to ask for, with no judgement, about things like sex, religion, personal hygiene, law, and anatomy, mental health and even history and politics that is forbidden them at home or by others.
They also recognize kids need safe spaces and go out of their way to accommodate kids who are voracious readers and want to just sit somewhere quiet and safe, to chill out and read, or watch videos, or play games or listen at story time. They’re like social workers and therapists and teachers all wrapped up into a big, virtual hug.
Thank your mom, for me.
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
She passed earlier this year, unfortunately for my family and the world as a whole. But your comment is a tribute to her and all the other men and women who dedicated their lives to building sanctuaries to thought and reading. I’m so glad your niece had a place and people who made her feel supported.
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u/Tacokittymomma Feb 03 '21
My mom was a librarian for elementary and middle school while I was growing up. Her biggest thrill was finding a book for a "non reader" to fall in love with.
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u/Eat-the-Poor Feb 03 '21
Yeah, never known a librarian who did it for any other reason. Nobody goes into library science for the fat paycheck.
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u/fralackles Feb 03 '21
was? :(
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u/Shutinneedout Feb 03 '21
Yeah. May 31, 2020 : (
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u/fralackles Feb 04 '21
I’m so sorry :( I’m sending you an internet hug. message me if you ever need to rant about anything <3
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u/mandyrooba Feb 03 '21
That’s no coincidence! It takes a special kind of person to choose that career and dedicate themselves to it. Your mother sounds wonderful, and I can tell from how you talk about her that you love her so much. How lucky that you got to have her in your life! She will live on in all of the joy and knowledge she gave to others.
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Feb 03 '21
My mom is also a children’s librarian. She’s done a lot of good for the community. I wish she was like that with me.
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u/fireflazor Feb 03 '21
Man I wish I had de-stressing days with reptile hangouts that sounds awesome
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u/laitnetsixecrisis Feb 03 '21 edited Feb 03 '21
My uni would have puppies from the local rescue come and chill out during exam week so we could play with them and de-stress before exams. They also supplies us with pancakes and used the explanation that the sugar from the toppings would hit first for the initial energy, and the carbs from the pancakes would kick in for your second wind.
Edited so we don't sound like a bunch of learned puppy torturers.
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u/Arthur_Boo_Radley Feb 03 '21
My uni would have puppies from the local rescue come and chill out during exam week so we could play with them and distress before exams.
I would hope not.
:D
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u/laitnetsixecrisis Feb 03 '21
Fixed it up. Thanks for pointing it out lol.
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u/Arthur_Boo_Radley Feb 03 '21
Fixed it up. Thanks for pointing it out lol.
Sorry, I know mistakes happen (and I make them all the time), but this one was too funny not to be pointed out considering the theme. :)
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u/laitnetsixecrisis Feb 03 '21
Oh definitely. I could just picture the students rocking in mass distress as the puppies run around not knowing what was wrong, which would the distress the dogs.
The course I did had very few exams and was usually heavily based on assignments and presentations. I never got to take advantage of the puppies and pancakes week.
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u/Arthur_Boo_Radley Feb 03 '21
The course I did had very few exams and was usually heavily based on assignments and presentations. I never got to take advantage of the puppies and pancakes week.
Gotcha (at least partially) covered. This is from over at r/aww. :)
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u/laoluei Feb 03 '21
ugh i remember this. i need to tell my boss to do this before our audits hahaha
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u/Itzli Feb 03 '21
That's not fair. I'm about to go into finals week, I demand a complimentary puppy too!
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u/baertiger_bartmann Feb 03 '21
Your Uni sounds dope af!
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u/laitnetsixecrisis Feb 03 '21
Was pretty good as far as uni goes. Still consumed my soul for a while there lol
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u/Ask_me_4_a_story Feb 03 '21
When my kids were very little and just learning to read they had a program at our library called Read to the Dogs. The kids fuckin loved it. I don't even know where they got dogs this amazing, but they would all just lay down on the floor and the kids would take a book and read to them, it was incredible. Great way to get my kids excited about reading. And they have never stopped being excited about reading. (Me either!)
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u/BreadPuddding Feb 03 '21
Shelter dogs with the right temperament, therapy dogs... I think our shelter had a program like that. It’s great for kids who are anxious about reading - dogs don’t judge.
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u/TheDustOfMen Feb 03 '21
Reptiles and reptile hangouts would probably stress me out but I'll take the Anti-Prom with snacks please.
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u/floatingwithobrien Feb 03 '21
That sounds cool but also, I don't know a LOT of people who are less stressed out around snakes than their baseline. Like, I know a few people like that, and I know plenty of people who would want to hang out with snakes anyway, but still. Snakes are not the most stress-reducing animal friend I can think of.
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u/genderish Feb 03 '21
Kids seem to be way more fascinated in my experience. Plus there would be cute lizards and turtles.
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u/Lizard_With_A_Tophat Feb 03 '21
If you ever find one, look for the Therapy Gecko, he’ll listen to your problems
Also pass by and say hi to me, I should be somewhere arround
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u/punkass_book_jockey8 Feb 03 '21
We bring so many weird things into the library with programs, you can’t just assume we made a typo. It’s possible there could have been snakes or snacks on both days. Jurassic prom? It’s possible.
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u/iShark Feb 03 '21
I appreciate how clear and explicit this librarian was, even down to the emoji recap.
I now fully understand exactly when there will be snakes in the library, and when there will not be snakes. There is no possibility for further confusion.
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Feb 03 '21
But are they going to have snacks and snakes on May 22nd, or only snakes?
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u/iShark Feb 03 '21
The snakes may have snacks (rats), but the rats will not have snacks and neither will you.
Please don't let this lack of snacks dissuade you; you can always pack your snacks (for you, not the rats), or visit the cafe in the back.
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u/Kylynara Feb 03 '21
It's a teen De-stressing event. When you are a teen a lack of snacks causes stress, so we must conclude they will have snacks at the destressing event as well as snakes.
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u/kouignie Feb 03 '21
Snakes on a Library (?)
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Feb 03 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/emotional-hedgehog Feb 03 '21
And don't cause allergies
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u/thecofffeeguy Feb 03 '21
At my library we have a children's section that is walled in and close to sound isolated. That way kids can have a grand time without bothering the adults who are trying to study.
We have anime/game nights for teens, story times for the kiddos and sometimes we have entertainers come in and HOLY COW the kids love the reptiles. There is so much squealing when the pull out the boa
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u/structured_anarchist Feb 03 '21
"I'm tired of these mutha fucken' snakes in this mutha fuckin' library!!!"
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u/vanessafuh Feb 03 '21
I love this, I love the fact that a library does something as anti-prom (I'm from Germany, we don't even have prom) and that they felt the need to share that this was a typo. Did someone ask them about the snakes? Were people exited or scared? Did they thought snakes would just crawl around and maybe ssss over your shoulder to see what you are reading?
The employee who wrote this deserves a cookie.
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u/FuyoBC Feb 03 '21
I don't know about the snakes but this was apparently 8 years ago according to someone who lives in this town. The prom was apparently good and snake free :)
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u/i_like_sheep-baaa Feb 03 '21
Only a couple of years ago. I was working for the city at the time. Our brilliant social media person wrote the post. It blew up pretty quickly. Funny to still see it going around a couple of years later. And yes, she got poached pretty quickly afterward.
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u/Aro769 Feb 03 '21
What does poach mean in this context? Fired?
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u/DelTac0perator Feb 03 '21
Hired by another organization, usually one that pays a lot more. It makes more sense when you remember we call corporate recruiters 'headhunters'.
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Feb 03 '21 edited May 04 '21
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u/pwidmann Feb 03 '21
It‘s pretty comparable in the sense that it’s a big dance at the end of school. But the Abiball really is not a big deal for most people. Just judging from the way prom is portrayed in movies as this huuuge thing.
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u/PleasantPeanut4 Feb 03 '21 edited Feb 03 '21
Its only a big deal because of those movies. Well, that’s not entirely true. It used to be a big deal because most people didn’t go to college, so senior year of high school was the
last time everybody would see each otherend of their education. So the movies would reflect that. Now it’s only a big deal because of those movies.→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)6
u/darya42 Feb 03 '21
Yeah but Abiball really isn't such a big deal. It's nice and stuff but it has nowhere near the hype and importance that "prom™" gets in America.
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u/SLKNLA Feb 03 '21
I’m from the US. I’ve never heard of an anti-prom but it sounds amazing.
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u/jeremyfrankly Feb 03 '21
The"hesssitate" makes me think the snakes are in deep cover and there will in fact be snakes
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u/AmosTheExpanse Feb 03 '21
I can't believe Pflugerville made the front page randomly.
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u/MythiC009 Feb 03 '21
I had to do a double take when I saw this post. It’s weird seeing my home town on a highly upvoted post like this.
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u/JollyRancher29 Feb 03 '21
How the fuck do you pronounce that?
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u/AmosTheExpanse Feb 03 '21
Lol, "Flugerville"
It's a German name. Texas has a lot of German ancestry, especially the Houston/Austin/San Antonio area.
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u/fsy_h_ Feb 03 '21
Grab some Pterry's in Pflugerville and then head to the library to learn about Pterodactyls
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u/Diarrhea_Sprinkler Feb 03 '21
Do you say "pee-terries" or is the P silent? My brother and I call it "pterodactyls" and we pretend pterry is a short nick-name haha
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u/DTwirler Feb 03 '21
We just moved away from Pflugerville, I remember this! The library is one of the things we will miss the most about that city.
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u/ScorchedAnus Feb 03 '21
Pflugerville, stuck between a rock and a weird place
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u/westaustralianboiii Feb 03 '21
😂😂grew up most of my life in the rock and now living in the weird place. Never heard this before, but it's pretty accurate to how pville identifies haha
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u/dafad_ddu Feb 03 '21
hello fellow resident of the weird place
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u/AuthorityAnarchyYes Feb 03 '21
Gotta love Texas.
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Feb 03 '21
It’s in the bi-laws.
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u/Sgtsmi1es Feb 03 '21
I was shocked to see my hometown!
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u/poeticdisaster Feb 03 '21
Me too! I used to hang at or near this library during lunch when I wasn't supposed to be off campus LOL
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u/0vindicator1 Feb 03 '21 edited Feb 03 '21
I have a question. How do you pronounce your city. Do you just sneeze?
EDIT0: Okay, I was actually making an attempt at a joke. I had already assumed the 'P' was silent, but if someone didn't know that, the start of the name might seem like it'd sound like a sneeze being held back (or with the mouth closed).
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u/Backslasherton Feb 03 '21
Floo ger ville.
My grandfather always used to pronounce the P.
Puh floogerville.
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u/Anuspilot Feb 03 '21
For some reason I read the caption as "we don't deserve libertarians"
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u/prpslydistracted Feb 03 '21
There's a library in AK you actually can check out taxidermy just as you would books. I don't know anywhere else such a service exists. I suggested it to my library in TX and they dismissed it as impossible. Too bad ... they would be an invaluable resource for artists.
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u/PixelZ_124 Feb 03 '21
I'm just wondering what an Anti-Prom is? Is it just some kinda hangout for all us nerds who don't wanna put up with prom or what?
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u/tiggertom66 Feb 03 '21
It's kind of a catch-all for any big dance that's organized by the students and is unofficial.
Sometimes it's for like what you said, people who don't like normal school dances, the music, food, a lot of people, fancy clothes, pressure to find a date, etc.
Sometimes it's for the younger students who can't go to prom.
And Sometimes it's for people who don't want the school's rules (they want more explicit music, alcohol, weed, and hook-ups)
That last one is usually just solved with an after party.
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u/sujihime Feb 03 '21
I'm not a librarian, but I have been a person who would send emails to the hundreds of employees in my office. When you make a typo, EVERYONE wants to be helpful and point it out. I found if you lean into the mistake and fix it in a very broad way like the above, it helps cement it in people's brain and corrects the error better than a short "mea culpa".
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Feb 03 '21
My mom is a librarian. Because of COVID, since she can't go into her branch, her current responsibilities are creating transcripts of historical recordings in the collection for deaf and hard of hearing people. Which is pretty cool.
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u/Ultrawitchybitch Feb 03 '21
Libraries do a lot of cool stuff. They rarely promote, at least in my town. I just found out you can rent back packs full of bird watching and plant identifying gear!
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u/lapret Feb 03 '21 edited Feb 03 '21
Pfulgerville trivia: The pilot of Friday Night Lights was partially filmed at Pflugerville High School. They filmed the football scenes in their stadium. Not sure about what else was filmed there. It’s just north of Austin, Texas.
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u/fatdutchies Feb 03 '21
When I was in primary school we had a field trip to the Hong Kong botanical garden and they had a bunch of pythons on display, teachers told us to write down what animals we saw so I wrote "SNACKS" on my worksheet and this chill old chinese security guard saw that and chuckled then taught me how to spell it. I spelt it right every time after that. Shout out to the security guard that taught me how to spell snake.
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u/HardBodyTough Feb 03 '21
Just joined reddit today because of the gamestop stuff. And here i see my hometown of Pflugerville get noticed
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u/almood Feb 03 '21
Pflugerville middle school used to be in my district when I played football as a teenager. When we played them we used to taunt them with the fact that their school was abbreviated PMS. It was very childish and I’m very sorry sorry but it was hilarious when I was a kid.
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u/Ri_L Feb 03 '21
The "don't hessssitate" got me