The Meanest of Librarians
I have started borrowing books from the library rather than buying new books. For one thing it saves me money and for another it saves a few trees. I very rarely, if ever, go back to a book I have read so what is the point in buying it? I do love books though. The idea of having a room in my house called the "library" built out of dark wood, with a leather sofa, and some soft music playing is very appealing. It would be excessive and really is not necessary. So I am borrowing books and I feel good about it. But this, is not the point of this entry.
The point of the entry is that borrowing books imposes, in the case of the Beaconsfield Public Library, a three week deadline on me. One that I would not have if I owned a book. So it forces me to get on with the reading, especially when I borrow a couple of books at a time. For some reason I don't want to be seen having to renew a book. I feel like it is a failure. Like I have not done my homework and that my teacher, the librarian, will scold me for asking for a few more days or weeks to complete my assignment.
The good news is that I generally make my deadline. The bad news is that there is always a crunch time a few days before the deadline. Why is that? I get it done but I need a few marathon sessions to be able to avoid the scornful look of the librarian. Deadlines are effective milestones in getting work done. But we humans are inefficient and inconsistent in the way we expend our energy on the way to making the predetermined date.
This was true for me at school. I knew the first week of class what the mid-term exam dates were and, in some cases, the final exam. But I always had to cram the week before. At work I knew that a customer was coming for a visit on such and such a date...but it was generally the day before that I worked on the presentation.
I just finished reading Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded. It is due tomorrow. I would summarize the book in the following way:
We have amazing, creative people living on this planet. People that can solve the world's environmental issues. We have a deadline though, unfortunately, it is not fixed - we don't know when the air will no longer be breathable. As a result of this unfortunate schedule we humans are procrastinating in solving the problem we face - our current assignment. To solve it, therefore, we need to do what our elders (parents, teachers) have always said. Start studying, reading and preparing early. That way you will be ready. Well, folks, this final exam, this due date, while not fixed in time, is steadily creeping closer. We had better start studying, reading and preparing as it is one exam we do not want to fail.
Mother Nature is one mean bitch of a librarian. She owns this book and she wants it back. Rest assured that she will not let us renew this book. So we had better get to it because, best we can tell, it is due shortly.
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