Today being Cinco De Mayo, it is very important for all reference librarians to know the true story behind the “worm in the Tequila” myth, so when you’re doing shots behind the desk a curious patron stops by looking for help on the history of Mexican beverages, you can explain why there’s no worm in his Tequila, and offer a shot of book on Mezcal instead.
The true history of the worm in the bottle.
“In 25 years we have never met a palenquero who has offered a sip of his mezcal with: a Worm, a Lime or Salt. In our experience the only use of the worm besides a marketing gimmick is to mask the chemical taste of poorly produced mezcal.“
T-shirt idea
“I ate the worm and all I got was this lousy headache (substitute ‘arrested’ or ‘dry heaves’).”
Les Miz Mezcal
Real Reference Librarians know to hide the flask in the text behind the desk, hence their nick name, “Bookworm.”
And if you have five shots of them today, you can celebrate that famous librarian-libation holiday, “Cinquo de Maguey.”
Absurd! We do not do shots at the ref desk
We make margaritas in the break room and conceal them in salt rimmed coffee cups.