Responding to Phantoms
I've just had the most surreal experience I've probably had as a library director. We've been dealing with an unhappy patron who was not satisfied with the various solutions we offered to address his concerns about not receiving his requested items in a timely manner. After several exchanges, another person joined the conversation, claiming to be a colleague of the person, and in addition to impugning my character, skills and competence, threatened to take her concerns public to the Board.
After much back and forth, including sharing information with the Board, some of us are starting to believe that this second person is a phantom. Indeed, when I attempted to make peace (and do the "neighborly" thing) by offering to have coffee and a face-to-face meeting, the response I received was, "I am currently stationed in London."
Definitely surreal!