Yesterday I entered the subway station after my yoga practice and saw some books in the book exchange bin. They caught my attention because these bins are perpetually empty, this was the first time I saw books there. Most were guides for competing for open positions in the government as bureaucrats, for which Spanish people study as if their lives depended on it (perhaps their livelihood does).
To me it's perplexing how people can covet these jobs so much. It's true they are life-long jobs with good hours, but they are rigid and not particularly well paid. There's also a bit of a beef between citizens and funcionarios, as they are not incentivized to provide good service, they do what they are supposed to do much like machines. An example of this is that the receptionists at the city-run gym do not even look at you when you greet them. They might grant you a glance without a smile. I still greet them as rejection therapy, but it's difficult not to resent them.
Among these books I found a thick volume of a Dewey classification reference. I flipped through it, and found some classification items of which I knew nothing about. "Theories of social assistance"—Oh I have opinions but no knowledge about that". "599.4 Talpidae" under "Mammals", what is a talpidae (a: members of the mole family). It made me notice: here is a catalogue of human knowledge and this will help me notice where are my gaps. The most difficult thing is knowing what you don't know, so I put it in my backpack and took it home.
If this book will become a doorstop or a candle in the darkness of my ignorance, I don't know yet. This story arises from the thought "what is the most interesting thing that happened to you yesterday" and if the answer is "I found a Dewey Classification Reference", then you will know the quality of my day.