catapult magazine

catapult magazine
 

Vol 8, Num 6 :: 2009.03.13 — 2009.03.27

 
 

Top ten reasons not to get stressed out if people borrow your books and don’t return them


  1. If people don’t return your books, you will have more shelf space to acquire more books.
  2. There are far more important things to worry about.
  3. Your friends will become more well-read.  Isn’t that what you want?
  4. You already read that book, so what do you care?  Stop worrying about it and go find another book.  You have a lot of books, after all.
  5. When they do return it, five or ten or twenty years from now, you will experience a moment of joy as you rediscover a book you love.
  6. When they see the book on their shelf, they will think of you, their friend, and admire your generosity and kindness.
  7. Let’s assume you spent twenty bucks buying that book (even though it was probably cheaper than that).  If you spent five hours reading it, that works out to four dollars per hour.  Movies cost more like seven or eight dollars per hour.  Concerts are ten or twenty dollars per hour.  And the special effects in your brain are way better than in the movies anyway.  So you have already gotten your money out of that book.  If you loan it to a friend, and they loan it to a friend, the cost per hour of enjoyment drops even further.  The more that book gets loaned out, the better the deal is.
  8. This way, you won’t feel guilty about not returning their books right away.
  9. Treat yourself to a few extra hours of reading time.  Someone as kind and understanding as you deserves at least that much.  Maybe an extra dessert, too.
  10. Books are only things.  Your friends are more important than your things.

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