It’s a comfort to read about the daily struggles of your counterpart in another setting. For some, this can serve as occupational therapy. For others, just the pleasure in knowing some scenarios are identical no matter where you go. The social mores of your fellow working-class schlub can lead to a-ha moments of “I know that guy, save for a different name, age, and shirt.” This is the case with mandatory viewing like NBC’s the Office television program, or 1999 cult film Office Space.
That was my impression of Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert. Some of the shocking tales of this Los Angeles Public Library clerk, you’ll be surprised to know, might trump even the mighty DPL’s offerings.
Are there any tales or films about the everyman that resonate with you?
I think one of the perfect stories about the ‘everyman’ can be seen in the short lived show Freaks and Geeks. I can totally identify with something in every character, whether they be a ‘freak’ or a ‘geek’. While the were in high school in the ’80s and I was in high school in the late ’90s the problems and the way we dealt with them were all the same, it was just the music that was different.