29.4.09

Good Times at the Halfway Cafe

A sizable portion of our guest user demographic falls into the same category: white, male, 28-44, tattooed, reeking of cigarettes, and carrying an ID that, though similar to a driver's license, is purely for identification purposes. This pattern baffled the heck out me until I mentioned it to one of my coworkers who informed me that there is halfway house about 2 blocks from the library.
Since I get to see these fellas' identification cards (one time I got to have a look at a probation ID since they had no other form) I can glean all sorts of information that is useful for internet searching. Actually, the only useful info is their name and town. I do admit that I secretly like to play a little game of guess their age (full disclosure: I do this with all users seeking guest id's. I'm OK at this but not ready to join the carnival circuit just yet). These guys are tough to gauge because I don't think their lifestyle is conducive to healthy living. Anyway, these patrons are great to google since their names, along with their town, tend to pop up in the local police blotters. You may remember these patrons from such local police blotter headlines as: "[Insert Town Name] man faces domestic assault charges" or "[Insert suspect name] charged with violating a restraining order."
I'm not exactly sure how this state's penal system works or the intricacies of how a halfway house functions within it but I do know that I have heard ads on the radio for the halfway cafe and if this is the type of clientele that hangs out there (or maybe is employed there in a work-release arrangement with the state) I will not be bringing the family there for footlongs until they at least stop smoking so much.

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