In the Library

Saturday is a busy day in a local library – a whole slew of families with kids are there, and there are lines at every checking out counter. My younger son tries to scan the books he intends to take out. One of them doesn’t go through the machine. A man with a couple of small kids behind us instructs him in a slightly impatient tone, “Put the book different side up, higher, lower...” I turn and thank him for being helpful. He stares at me for a moment and says, “Well, that’s how it is in Iceland – we are not polite, but we are helpful.”