Libraries

Me: “WordPress and I have continuing disagreements about
the sizes and positions of graphics.
I am comfortable with imperfection.”

 

Scooter Fun
May 24, 2023

As I walked toward the library, I stopped to look at a scooter in the bike rack. It was a triangle with rounded corners.

I left the library at the same time as the scooter owners, a little girl with her father.

Me: “I’ve never seen that kind of scooter before.”

Father showed me the long dog leash he had attached to the front of the scooter.

Father: “This is for pulling it when she doesn’t feel like propelling it.”

I noticed the ankle brace on his leg.

Father: “I sprained it running with the scooter.”

Daughter giggled as the scooter bounced off the sidewalk onto the road.

I laughed with her.

DISC Behavior Style Clue
Loyalty to his daughter’s desire for fun in spite of injuring his ankle
Steadiness

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Affirming Equality
April 9, 2025

I went to the library to print because my printer was out of ink. I saw a small boy on the floor with his mother, playing with a big doll house. They were checking out books when I went up to the desk to pay for my printing.

Me: “That dollhouse looked fun to play with.”

Mother: “It was.”

Me looking directly at Small Boy: “Anyone can play with dollhouses, right?

Mother: “I agree. He’s building his own dollhouse.”

Me: “You are? That’s wonderful!”

Small Boy said nothing to me, but looked at me a couple of times so I know he heard what I said.

I saw a shared Facebook post from a woman she was looking at
dinosaur toys with her 5 year old daughter.

An older woman tried convincing Daughter to buy
a doll instead because dinosaurs are for boys.

Daughter knew how to respond to that: 

“ROAR!”

The mother concluded the post by saying she wasn’t even embarrassed.

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In a retail store, I saw an 8 or 9 year old girl following her mother.
Her arm hung by her side, her hand wrapped around a dinosaur tail.

I went up to them and told them the story of the 5 year old roaring at the older woman.

Dinosaur Holding Girl looked at me and said…

“ROAR!”

Roaring girls now, roaring women later on.

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Making Connections While Recognizing Differences
September 6, 2025

I’m a village trustee in a rural village of 155 people. Many of our private wells are polluted with nitrates from the farm that is right inside the village.

I told the librarian about my success in getting a national politician to send their regional representative to our groundwater committee meeting to listen to farm neighbors.

After I named the politician, a patron at a computer in the back came out to make sure she had heard the politician’s name right. I said it again.

Patron: “They’re great! They do all kinds of things for water. Thank you for being a voice for water.”

I reacted with pleasure at her enthusiasm.

Patron: “I’m a water specialist. I’m on the other side.”

The water specialist is not in the same political party as the politician. She assumed I shared the politician’s political perspective, and I confirmed that I do. We discussed a shared perspective about how American society prevents most people from gaining wealth.

Patron repeating herself: “Thank you for being a voice for water. I hope we meet again.”

During our conversation, Patron kept her distance. At one point when I was standing still, she backed up another couple of feet.

Probable DISC Behavior Style Blend
Joining a conversation
Enthusiastic gratitude
Enthusiasm about the politician
Hope for maintaining the connection by meeting again
Influence

Needing physical distance while conversing
Conscientiousness

Influence / Conscientiousness

I gave Patron my name and asked for hers.
Because she’s water specialist, she doesn’t give her name to anyone.
People want too much from water specialist her.

I said I would like to talk about our conversation to other people
to show that people with opposite political perspectives can work together.
She said I could.

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© Paula M. Kramer, 2025
All rights reserved.
Updated October 14, 2025