One of the jobs I do at the reference desk involves perusing the local papers and entering the names of the people who have died over the past several months, their age, and the page number and date of the obituary. This is so future versions of me will have an easier time of it when the relatives show up and want to see the microfilm. It is also an interesting way to study the demographics of a place like this, as well as the statistics of death. While most of the people in here are in their 70s, 80s, and 90s (and even some in their 100s), there are a surprising (possibly only to me) number of 20s, 30s, and 40s, and unfortunately also several newborns or young children. Doing a job like this makes you realize that people are dying every day, as well as being born, and there's not much anyone can do about it. The best thing about this task is the opportunity to name-watch, which I haven't done since my days of running summer registration for children's tennis. For example:
Giacomina (Richiedei) Risciotti
Czeslawa (Macierowski) Chmura
Anne P. (Kudelski) Philbrook-McMennamin
Justin Plouffe
Josephine "Pina" (Salvetti) Lorenzatti
Tadeusz Pasterkiewicz
Mario Asta-Ferrero
Hopefully these names will live on long after their bearers.
2 comments:
OH! name watching- the second best part of the summer of '05 (the first best part, of course, being you). YourMajesty Gilmore, we salute you. It's slightly less fun and slightly more depressing, however, when the bearers of the funny names are dead rather than applying to come to your free summer tennis and reading program.
A says that Beautiful Brown and Unique Bush are back this summer. And don't think I've forgotten you, Jamesely!
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