Just wrong

Now I know that several of my friends feel the same way but the other day (I don't remember when or where) I was walking into (or out of) a store in town just as it started to rain. Now rain never bothers me unless I have something I don't want to get wet. If I get wet it's no biggie, it's not like I didn't get soaked before (back in my Army days, as it were) or will again. So it doesn't bother me. But some woman (a grandmother I'd guess) and a young girl were leaving and the girl held a book over her head (a nice looking one, meaning a nice hardbound one) to keep the rain off.

That struck me as very nearly a Sin. A book, a nice hardbound one to read and treasure and pass down to your kids being used like yesterdays newspaper (which is even less valuable these days since "journalism" is even less concerned with reporting Facts). I controlled myself and didn't grab the book and thrash her with it (also a Bad Thing, for the book, not the little girl - but it's not her fault, the grandmother perhaps should have been reprimanded for not teaching her granddaughter the value of books).

The other day I noticed that Matt was done reading two of the books he'd borrowed. One of the Eoin Colfer Artimis Fowl ones and one of the earlier (smaller) Harry Potter ones. The Harry Potter book looked like he'd dropped it in the toilet by accident, the pages were damp and the spine was all curled up. I asked him what he thought would happen if he treated my books like that.