I've been meaning to update the blog for the past two weeks, but I just haven't had the time - the reason being I got a library job! I'm currently working reference, but as I settle into my new position more I'm going to also be taking charge of doing stuff with the local history collections, which is what I'm really trained in because I'm an archivist.
It's a part-time job, but I'm still working enough hours and being paid at a high enough rate that I can handle my student loans, and that's what I was looking for, so I'm relieved! Everyone's really nice and they've been patient with me as I learn everything - they've told me it'll take months before I really have everything down because there's just so much to learn, so they've been teaching me new things a bit at a time until I have all my responsibilities understood instead of just piling everything on at once. It's a much better fit for me than being a tour guide was, since that just involved constant socialization. At the reference desk, I get to talk to people, too, but it's far less often and the conversations are much shorter, and I also have a lot of other work to take care of. The patrons who I've helped so far have all been kind to me and many of them have even welcomed me aboard - they're very sweet!
A couple of my co-workers know that I have Asperger's because it came up in a conversation (we have a regular patron who is also on the spectrum), but my boss doesn't know yet, and I'm not planning on bringing it up unless it actually does come up again somehow. Although it's a core part of my identity as a human being, so many people don't really understand what being on the autism spectrum really is like (and when they do, they often just assume my experience is like the male experience, which it's not), so I generally don't go around telling everyone I meet about it. It's not something I necessarily feel like I have to hide, but I also don't loudly announce it because I know it's not quite understood fully yet. At any rate, people will probably find out over time, especially since I'd love to do a program to help teenagers on the spectrum out since I'm in charge of YA books. (Which has more or less put me in charge of the manga and graphic novel collection. It's going to be so good now, just sayin'. I have great taste.)
I ought to close this out here since I have some other things to attend to today, but basically, things feel really nice right now and I'm so thankful and relieved that I'm going in the right direction. It got scary for some time there, but now that I've got a job - with a regular schedule - I think I might just be able to handle this 'adulthood' thing.
