Big Surprise

The fridge, the bed, the TV, a new book . . . All are distractions when I’m not particularly inclined to work. On one such occasion I decided to venture forth and work elsewhere: the library. Before settling down with my laptop computer, I went to the little translators’ room. Rather than put my bag on the floor, I pulled down the baby-changing table to set it there. I noticed that several sheets of paper were trapped between the pull-down table and the wall.

Uh-oh! Did some poor, hard-working mother forget her precious print-out while changing her child’s diaper in the restroom? I pulled out the paper and began to unfold it. The first sheet had a picture of a body builder. Hmmm. Interesting. This guy was older than one would expect. The next sheet also had a body builder. This one was younger, but he had hair on his chest. Uhm, don’t people shave and oil themselves up for competitions and these kinds of photos? Then I fully unfolded the sheets and realized that these guys were naked and, erm, happily erect.

I walked over to the Reference Desk. It was a busy weekday afternoon at the public library, with hordes of teenagers descending on the place, mothers hushing small children, and retirees milling about. I carefully and discreetly unfolded one of the sheets of paper to show the librarian and said, “You might want to check the other restrooms.”

Never a dull moment in my life, people!