June 02, 2006

Never Never Lend

Nowadays, there's one pet peeve that irks me more than anything else and that is retrieving books from my friends. It's a hassle, that's why. And it should not be my obligation in the first place.

I usually let some of my friends borrow a volume or two from my collection in the hope of widening their reading preference. Encouraging your friends to read books for the sheer pleasure of it is a rewarding experience. It makes me feel somewhat accomplished. But what I hate is that 1) it takes months for them to finish a single one, and 2) they don't read it at all. Filipinos generally dislike asking people to return things, that's why it's just logical and prudent for the borrowers to return it as soon as they have finished it. But no, here, people just chuck the tomes into their shelves and forget about it and you, the owner, wait and wait for its "second coming". It's a paradox but it's reality.

What's more irritating is when you've follow-upped your friend to return it, that person delays the transaction for reasons ranging from non-reply to the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon. It's not funny and I feel they're taking my book hostage. That person would say, "Oh, I haven't finished reading it. I'm still at the first chapter." And I thought, "For three months now?" During that time, I just wished that the book will run away from that person's room and head back to my shelf where it belongs. It just shows how indifferent and disinterested these people are in reading your book. I think it's only right that if such a person cannot sustain his/her interest in finishing it, the only recourse is to return the damn book read or unread. Sad to say, in this ningas cogon country of ours, it does not happen.

Here's some solutions whenever your friends start forgetting what they've borrowed:
1. Text/Call them every week asking them if they've finished the book.
2. Remind them that your third cousin twice removed wants to borrow it.
3. Tell them that a lot of people finished it in one to two sittings, and that it's a shock for you to see that they can't do the same.
4. Inform them that a lot of readers' lives were changed after finishing the volume, and you'll help them change their lives if they don't finish it.

How to stop your friend from kidnapping your books:
1. NEVER LEND a single one. Too late for me to realize it.
2. Only lend those ratty editions that you're trying to dispose.
3. Lend them only the titles that you don't want to see again.
4. If you still let them borrow, ask them when can you expect it to be returned.
5. Lock your books in your fire-proof cabinet or bookshelf.

But the best answer is still: NO! Nein! Nunca! Non! Nyet!
Oh... that reminds me, I need to text my friend to remind her to return my Kite Runner.

9 comments:

j said...

he he good thing ako lagi ang humihiram because I don't invest in books. but hey, I read and return them right away :)

Anonymous said...

Here's how I persuade my friends to return whatever it is that they borrowed:

1. Tap them at the back and ask them to return the stuff.
2. Repeat step 1 every 10 minutes.

wurlocke said...

I hate people who do this, it's like they've got no respect for the books or whatever they're borrowing!

RE : Serenity. I TOLD YOU SO!!! I almost cried when they killed Wash off though. *sniff* I loved him, he's so funny! "I'm a big, semi-muscular man. Tell me, I can take it!"

E. S. de Montemayor said...

jairam: good for you :D just invest on the books you really want to keep, amazon is a terrific guide in choosing books...

steel: hmmm... i think i'll try your method... heheheh...

E. S. de Montemayor said...

pi: gud thing they didn't make a drama sa pagpatay ni Wash... & pru haladluk sang mga patay sa Miranda, daw tuod gid nga mga cadavers...

banzai cat said...

*turns into sabre tooth tiger*

Ah, so you were saying about borrowing my books? ;-)

vina said...

hay naku jul, gin hambal mo pa. books and cds. never, never lend those!

link ta ka ha!

E. S. de Montemayor said...

cat: hahahaha... guilty ba?

vina: sakto gid. nasa huli ang pagsisisi. thanks for linking, link kita likewise. cheers!

Urban Warrior said...

Hay naku dude, you wrote about this years before. Still needed to remind someone about it? hehehe

..which is why I rarely lend books to anyone. Unless it's a book I don't want to see again, I never lend it.

(more over if the book is some expensive shit on design that costs around 3k, for f__k's sake no I will not lend you that book =P)