handle with care...!

i wanted to re-read the alchemist this morning. when i remembered, i'd lent it to someone YEARS ago and that person happily forgot about it. this was when i still loaned books to people. after years of abuse, i've wisened up. i no longer lend books. i'm tired of lending books and then crying about how they come back used and abused or then, even worse - they never turn up!

there've been so many instances when people have returned my book with curry stains or doodlings or arbit phone numbers/mail id's scribbled on the last page. i READ the last page! and even if i didn't, no1 gave you the right to desecrate my book! i think it should be a legal crime to abuse a book! punishable in a court of law!

i very rarely borrow books from people. and i don't like it if someone asks me if they can borrow my book. *this is not applicable to close frenz!* it's like sum1 walking upto you and saying: "i'm really bored. can i borrow your baby today?" the answer wud *hopefully* be d same .. "umm.. well... NO!" they're equally, precious, u see!

let me clarify. "mistreating" my books mainly refers to :
a. folding pages. *invest in a bookmark and learn to use it!*
b. folding d book!!! *u wud be SO dead when i find out!*
c. touching pages/cover with dirty hands. *YES, i preserve d cover too!*
d. dropping food on my book *U will be dropped from grace. for good*
e. tearing ANY part of the cover or page. *WTF?! it's NOT urz!*
f. scribbling on it like it were a notepad. *NO excuse can be legit here*
g. creasing d spine. read at 45 *for odd pages* or 65 *for even pages* degree angles, if reqd. i care more for the spine of my book than ur neck!
h. lending MY book to someone else without my permission. *people do that*
i. LOSE the book. *u lose my fr'ship*

it's not that i'm d only one who cares for books. i DO have frenz who look after their books like i do. and to them, i can lend any of my babies with my eyes shut! but till u manage to enter that realm of comfort with me, it's a strict no-no!!

and of course, if u borrow anybody's book, pls take care of it and do return it to them once u're done reading. don't make ppl use GPS to track their books!

p.s.: i must mention my colleague, Kabir, who once borrowed a book. and returned it in excellent condition *the way it was* with a thank u note. good people DO exist!