Another Excerpt from the Annals of Student-Speak

"Miss, can I make an interview with you for my project?" a student asks me today while I'm sitting at the reference desk. Always happy to oblige, and not otherwise busy, I replied, "Certainly. Ask me."

The first question was deeper than I expected.

"Miss, please talk about what is your character."

I thought about it for a moment. "Well," I began, briefly flirting with the idea of responding with an in-depth examination of my character flaws, and then rejecting that idea, "I am fun, talkative, and sometimes silly."

My answer was met with a deeply furrowed brow.

"Nooooo, miss." My student said somberly, perhaps disappointed that I had told such an obvious lie. "Miss, you are not silly."

Well, look who's so informed. Am I not? I challenged her. "We have never met, my dear." I told her matter-of-factly. "You have no idea whether or not I am silly."

A pause ensued.

"Miss," the student began again, eyeballing me like I was about to get a serious education, and then speaking with the gravity of somebody who really knows something; "librarians are very serious."