I work at the Circulation Desk at the School of Medicine Library at the University of South Carolina. One night, it had to be around 10 or 11, a man walked up to the desk with a question. He looked normal enough; I thought he wanted help with our database. He said to me, "I'm here to pick up a body".

Thinking I MUST have misunderstood him, I asked him to repeat himself. Sure enough, he was really asking for a body! It gave me quite a turn, especially as I am working the "graveyard shift"!

I assured him that although our library performs many services for our patrons, we don't actually give out bodies! I thought maybe he was a confused medical student, looking for the Gross Anatomy lab, or perhaps looking to catch up on some homework!

It turns out that he was trying to pick up the body of a deceased patient at the Veteran's Hosptial (which is adjacent to the Medical School). He obviously didn't know his way around, but what made him think he could pick up a body in the LIBRARY, I just don't know! I'm a big advocate of customer service, but there are just some things I'm glad we DON'T do for our patrons!