For the past six weeks, I've been working at Nimitz Library at the Naval Academy. I've been working at libraries since high school, and as most people can imagine, it's definitely not the most exciting job out there. There's nothing spectacular in shelving books or standing in front of a wall of books, painstakingly reading each call number to make sure they're all in order. The Library of Congress cataloging system is a mind-numbing series of letters and numbers, arranged in complex series and combinations that the average library-goer finds hopelessly indecipherable. For instance, does G124.R32 2003 come before or after GA121.S53? (for the answer to this question and more about the LOC catalog organization, please visit the LOC's Catalog and Aquisitions page).And don't even get me started on periodical titles... if a journal has on its cover "U.S. Maritime Safety and Security Council Proceedings," (an actual journal title) one would logically presume it would be found under "U." Not so. It's actually filed with the "P's", with the title "Proceedings of the U.S. Maritime Safety and Security Council." I feel sorry for the poor soul who comes into the library expecting to read all about foreign trade vessels and the security of U.S. ports, and is left scratching his head in confusion in the "U" section, wondering where his journal has gone.
Despite my frustrations with the organization of library materials, I've really enjoyed my time at Nimitz. Not so much the work, but the people I worked with. The Circulation department has some really awesome employees. There were my two other fellow student co-workers, AnneMarie and Grace, my super-cool supervisor, Sam, Howard, who's been working at Nimitz for 30 years, Larry, a retired Navy corpsman, and Carmelo, a retired Gunnery Sergeant. All of them were a lot of fun to work with. What's more, Larry and Carmelo had some pretty awesome stories about their days in the Navy and the Marines.
I had shifting duty with Carmelo, moving journals around, so I got to hear a lot of his stories. Carmelo really is an amazing guy - he's a third-generation Marine (his grandfather was a Navajo codetalker in WWII), Force Recon, served three tours in Iraq, 2-time Purple Heart winner, and Navy Cross recipient. That's a track record that demands respect. Yet rather than being one of those Marines who can't seem to find the "OFF" switch and treat people like they're a bunch of new recruits, he's a really funny, down-to-earth guy. He called me "Pvt. Pyle" (I told him a few stories about my adventures in ROTC) and threatened to IPT me if I gave him any sass, which I always did. He even gave me homework one weekend: to watch "Full Metal Jacket."
It's amazing what I heard and learned from him during our shifts together, especially about leadership and accountability. Marines have this aura, this overpowering sense of honor that makes you want to be a better person... at least they have that effect on me. That doesn't mean that I want to go green - hell no. But I can definitely take a point or two from what I've learned from Carmelo (and others) and try to apply it to my own life.
