Pet Peeve of the Day

People borrowing books and not returning them.

I have a lot of books. Now, this isn't like the library in Beauty and the Beast... but I do have a relatively big collection. This comes from my father being an English major when he was in school, and from me also being an English major. This means lots of books.

Classical books. Contemporary books. Mostly fiction. All of them sentimental or expensive. I could probably list of all of my books, if you wanted to waste your time listening to me.

Which just proves my point: I know my books. I know which books I have, and which books have disappeared from my collection.

I remember back in elementary school I actually devised a book-borrowing system. This was before I knew libraries existed. I made little cards and slipped them into books like bookmarks and students would write their names on the card with borrowed dates and returned dates. Then they'd sign it. Since the little bookmarks kept slipping out, I fashioned a little envelope in the front covers of books and taped that down, and put the bookmark inside the envelope. There were two copies, one in the book at all times and one for the owner. It blew my mind that school libraries actually worked this way. It made so much sense.

But of course, being that OCD meant my friends made fun of me. I was too anal, and of course I couldn't keep doing that in high school or university. There was no way I was going to get socially ostracized because I wanted to keep track of my books.

But now that I'm older and I'm missing a few key books from my collection... I wonder. Should I have done this to all my current books? Yes, it'd look a little silly, but at least there's some accountability.

Where's my Macbeth? It isn't even my own copy. It's my father's, from when he went through university. They don't even make books that look like that anymore. Who has it!

Where's my Fight Club? I remember hearing I'd get it back several years ago. Years later, I'm wondering what 'soon' really means.

Where's my Haunted? I miss that glow in the dark cover.

And of course, other books come back tattered, ripped, stained, and bent. Come on guys. These aren't library books. I paid for them. If I didn't pay for them, my father did. They're not yours. Give them back. And I'll never lend anything to you ever again.