The Eternal Return of Late Books: A Monument to Human Forgetfulness
Seriously? Forty-six years?! I just read about a library worker in California discovering a book that was overdue since 1978. 1978! Disco was peaking, Star Wars was fresh, and someone apparently thought it was perfectly acceptable to borrow “The Joy of Cooking” (the irony is almost too much) and then…forget about it. Completely vanish into the ether.
This isn’t just a late fee situation; this is a philosophical crisis! Its proof that humanity is fundamentally incapable of responsibility when presented with something tangible, something physical. We can track satellites, send probes to Mars, and argue endlessly about the nuances of streaming quality, but apparently, returning a cookbook is beyond our collective grasp.
I picture the borrower now: a bright-eyed, optimistic soul in bell bottoms, promising themselves theyd try Julia Child’s soufflé. Life happened, naturally. The soufflé probably collapsed, dreams were dashed, and the book just…sat. Gathering dust, accruing decades of silent judgment from surrounding volumes.
And we wonder why libraries are struggling? This isnt about funding; it’s about basic decency! A profound lack of respect for communal resources! I fully expect a national holiday to be declared in honor of this monumental failure to return a library book. Because apparently, thats the level of recognition we deserve these days.
