Number 80!

Don't know how many I've looked at, how they've rotted my brain and probably jeopardized my scholarship almost 2 months before school even starts because of laziness and only 2 genuine reasons to be late.

Today is a copy of one from last week, which is just bizarre. (And not in a good way.)

I mean, this is just extremely, bizarrely lazy. I know the ideas are repeated a thousand times over, there can't be more than 10 real readers of this comic besides us snarks and jabberwocks.




Don't get me wrong, I use the library on a regular basis because books are expensive most of the time - unless they're secondhand, and there are no bookstores in my town besides the Christian one. (It used to be an awesome bike shop.) There are sections in Wal-Mart and Kroger, and the one antique store has some. There used to be a great, small, crowded bookstore, it's gone now.

So - the library is the only place within comfortable summer biking or walking distance to get free or cheap (discarded) books.

I have a normal school book bag that I used to use on our monthly trips to the big main one in downtown Memphis, but it's a hassle on a bike. I have a bag that doesn't zip or have secure interior pockets, so it's just used for books.

However, there's not much there I like except for the occasional hardback that catches my eye. I normally order books from the other 3 libraries that left the main system, and you can only order 2 from another library at a time.

So it's not big volume - they normally fit in my purse (on the small but deep side) or securely in the basket.

However, I always have 2 bags in my purse - Target ones right now - in case it starts raining.

And before I rode all the time, I'd ask my mom to drop them off on her way to... wherever.

Normally, the 20ish books (we're now allowed 10 because they're too cheap to keep security measures in place, and people were stealing because they could legally check out 25 books at a time, not because they could walk in and walk out with a book without ever stopping at the desk) would go in a bag, usually 2 plastic ones that were thrown out or used to gather trash from the car doors.

So, yes, I can relate with the "woman" in the picture.

But it still bugs me - this is the same thing from less than a week ago! Jesus Christ on a pogo stick! I know it's hot and your brain is hibernating, but come on.

As for today's comic, I'm not calling the sender cheap or broke - it's a common, convenient thing, and makes me feel better because there's no recycling in our town, so I'm reusing the bags. I do it all the damn time, it's just smart. 2 bags can protect your backpack from wet clothes, protect your medicine from the abyss of your backpack, and on and on.

2 problems with the comic - not just men bowl, and not just women read. Also, that looks like a small bag in proportion to the size and number of the books. That's stupid, that bag will break. These things are everywhere, and you can't take the time to double bag those twenty plus dollar books?

If you're using one bag for that many books, and the bag breaks and the books get ruined, you deserve it. I mean, I didn't even use one bag when I'd toss them in the car for a quick drop off. And the ones I keep around for rain? Put the purse and books in one bag, tie it, then put that bag in the other with the tied end at the opposite side - better protection.

The message here is not odd, treasonous, stupid, or, sadly, cannibalistic. (If it had said the bag held eggs...)

The execution is sloppy and the timing sucks majorly. He couldn't have shelved this for a few months?

That poster of the dog reading is creepy, yay! I mean, look at those eyes.

Big Brother is watching!

And I've never been to a checkout at any library (and I've been to a lot, not just the ones here) that has the word LIBRARY written above it on nothing.

Plus, bookshelves are never that close to the checkout desk, at least not where patrons can get them - maybe discard shelves, but those don't look like discard shelves. The counter is for checking in, checking out, signing up for computer time, and getting library cards. It's a lot bigger than that, at every library!

So these pluggers, obviously, do not read or visit library.

Case closed.

Unless...

Unless...

This was sent in by a man, about a woman he knows who always comes home from the library with Kroger bags and comes home from Kroger with groceries in a canvas bag with books on it.

This man doesn't read, so he doesn't understand anything, except the astonishing cheapness of this female - the books are free, you can't spring for a decent bag?

Or Brookins has never seen the inside of a library.

That's probably it.

Sorry for rambling. I love libraries, I love books, but I also hate being like a Plugger.

But many people are - doesn't everyone save grocery bags, as long as they're not in terrible condition?

This is much more plausible than a f!cking bowling ball in a cheap disposable bag.

On a happier note, I'm glad to see this female Plugger reading, remember the time she entered Rhinoman's whirlpool of despair? She's obviously coping better with the suckiness of her life. The fact that she reads points to someone who was an honor student in high school or college, on her way to a succesful career in whatever she wanted to do, but something got in the way.

Good for her.

I actually like this one just like the one from the 30th (though that one does piss me off a bit more - it's still true and applies to me and my family) - it doesn't fill me with rage or confusion. I think I'm going soft. It is 4am and I got less than 6 hours of sleep, so maybe I'm in a better mood?

I hope Friday's will piss me off so much I consider abandoning the blog for a few days.

I don't think I'll be disappointed.

See ya in the funny pages.