Genius or Idiot?

Working at a desk that looks like a reference desk but isn't, has unique problems. For instance, people think I know everything, and become extremely upset, or just pathetically confused when I strip them of this illusion.

Example: I just helped a guy for a solid fifteen minutes with something he could have done much more easily on his own, with no more information to go on than, "I need to watch an opera." See? He has obviously come to this interaction with a preconceived set of notions in his head, a few of which are: I know, off-hand, all the operas in the world, and, more specifically, which ones this library has and where they are. He is also assuming that I know which kind of opera he needs. More likely, actually, is that he has no idea himself, and doesn't want to appear stupid. Therefore, I am put into a dilemma. If I ask, "Modern or traditional? English or foreign? New or old?" and he has no clue, I make him look stupid, and myself look smarter than I really am, since my knowledge of opera, while obviously more expansive than his, is nonetheless extremely limited. You might think that making myself look smarter would be advantageous to me, but nothing could be further from the truth. The smarter I look, the more people will try to use me as a crutch.

For instance, Opera Guy. At first things seemed to be going smoothly. He came to the desk, asked for our operas, and was at least apologetic when he couldn't clarify any further than that. I told him to do an advanced search, and, once I had explained what that is, he happily went off to use the computer. One minute later he was back, completely stumped.

My first mistake, though an unavoidable one: displaying knowledge about how to find things that is superior to the patron's abilities. They will, if they are polite, make a cursory attempt, but if they do not find what they are looking for in a reasonable amount of time (say, fifteen seconds) they will fall back on the assumption they automatically made about me, (i.e., that I have downloaded the library catalog into my head) and come ask me for help.

Oh, that I were an angel, and could shout with a voice like thunder, saying, "Make an effort, people! You're like the little kid with the OCD mom who does chores wrong on purpose so the mom will take over and the kid won't have to do anything. Well, guess what? I'm not OCD."

Actually, if I were an angel, I probably would download the catalog (and all the other knowledge in the universe) into my head, and then I really could answer their questions no problem. As it is, I am then forced to enable their laziness by going on the same website they have access to and using the same search engine to search for the same stupid thing, and coming up with the same stupid result: nothing. Because their question is stupid. Most of the time, if the question is an easy (read: intelligent) one, even the most simple of simpletons can find it. But not even I, super genius though I am, can find the exact opera you are looking for if even you don't know what the requirements for your assignment are.

At least have the decency to NOT come up to me five minutes into an opera by a guy named Giuseppe Verdi and complain that it's all in Italian. Please. Just don't do it. You're only making yourself look bad.