(no subject)
I would like to take a moment to bitch about something near and dear to me. Borrowing something from someone, keeping it too long and then handing it back wrecked. This post brought to you by my newly returned Hardcover Original Copy of New Moon being finally returned to me water damaged and severely sun damaged. After FIVE YEARS. And ONLY because I ASKED for it back. Now it's a twilight book, so I'm not devastated, but that's not the POINT.
I like sharing things with people, I like helping them out. I keep my things pristine. My paperbacks spines are as unlined as when they were purchased. My covers are smooth. I ABHOR dog earing. And I NEVER write in margins or highlight lines. Yeah, maybe I'm a little OCD, but I like my things a certain way. And they are MY things, so I can keep them however I like. I loan things to responsible people who are good friends that I trust and whom I feel will respect my OCD nature and care for the things they borrow. But, it turns out that I can no longer rely on even those friends. I have had to ask for things back because they have had them so long, and while I do not feel there should be a time limit on how long someone can borrow something I am finding the longer someone has something, the faster they seem to forget it does not belong to them. I have had books (ALL ORIGINAL FIRST PRINTING) returned to me drawn in, written in, highlighted, dog eared, spines decimated, covers bent, covers ripped, covers and/or pages missing, pages torn, warped from water damage and yellowed beyond recognition by the sun. I have had DVDs returned to me completely scratched up and damaged and now nonfunctional. Their cases torn, faded, and/or warped. And really, I don't think it is SO HARD to respect someone else's property, do you? To actually care for something you borrow, and return it within a sensible time frame so that the owner does not have to poke you about it then be handed something completely unrecognizable.
I'd be angry, if I wasn't so used to it by now. So, I am just going to stop loaning things out. Most of the things still on loan are probably gone for good or will take some fighting to get back. I don't know if I can be bothered, or if I even want to know what they will be returned looking like.
This is not how sharing is supposed to work.
I like sharing things with people, I like helping them out. I keep my things pristine. My paperbacks spines are as unlined as when they were purchased. My covers are smooth. I ABHOR dog earing. And I NEVER write in margins or highlight lines. Yeah, maybe I'm a little OCD, but I like my things a certain way. And they are MY things, so I can keep them however I like. I loan things to responsible people who are good friends that I trust and whom I feel will respect my OCD nature and care for the things they borrow. But, it turns out that I can no longer rely on even those friends. I have had to ask for things back because they have had them so long, and while I do not feel there should be a time limit on how long someone can borrow something I am finding the longer someone has something, the faster they seem to forget it does not belong to them. I have had books (ALL ORIGINAL FIRST PRINTING) returned to me drawn in, written in, highlighted, dog eared, spines decimated, covers bent, covers ripped, covers and/or pages missing, pages torn, warped from water damage and yellowed beyond recognition by the sun. I have had DVDs returned to me completely scratched up and damaged and now nonfunctional. Their cases torn, faded, and/or warped. And really, I don't think it is SO HARD to respect someone else's property, do you? To actually care for something you borrow, and return it within a sensible time frame so that the owner does not have to poke you about it then be handed something completely unrecognizable.
I'd be angry, if I wasn't so used to it by now. So, I am just going to stop loaning things out. Most of the things still on loan are probably gone for good or will take some fighting to get back. I don't know if I can be bothered, or if I even want to know what they will be returned looking like.
This is not how sharing is supposed to work.