RIDICULOUS!

Ok, I'm so angry right now I could just scream! We were down at Seaport Village today...we went down to fly kites, ride the carousel, etc. We had a nice time, ate lunch at the McDonald's near home because the lines down there were just way too long. At McD's we were discussing the prices of things out here and the unbelief that people actually pay what we are paying for food. I easily spend over $200 weekly on groceries. How are these Mexican illegal immigrants surviving, etc etc. A cheeseburger at McDonald's here is $1.29 (including tax). It seems to me that I remember cheeseburgers being .69 Am I old? How much are they on the east coast? Anyway...while at the seaport, I was in a book store where I saw two books I'd like to read. I figured I'd write down the titles and then get them from the library. (Now for why I'm angry!) SO, I'm finally home, and sitting down, the babies are in bed. I just checked the library holdings and found one of the titles. I want to put a "reserve" on it so my name gets in the cue and the library will call me when it is my turn to read the book. Get this...for every item you request on reserve, you will pay $1.00!!! No way in hell. Is this REALLY a PUBLIC library? It sounds like a private one to me. I know it is only $1.00 and I'll dish out more for less but this is a matter of principle. Borrowing materials from a public library should be FREE if it is borrowed within the library system. This particular book is not special, it does not need to be interlibrary loaned from a different place in the state. I could walk into any Borders and buy it if that is what I wanted to do. I'm so angry I could spit. $1.00 for a computer to tell the clerk "Send this book to the Serra Mesa branch next". Is this a common practice now? I used the reserve system constantly in Brandon and was never charged a cent. Grrrr. I'm very annoyed and now I don't know what to do.

Thankfully, I just picked up a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula at the local thrift shop yesterday. (cost: .79! .21 cheaper than "reserving" a book at the SD PUBLIC library...and I own it now!) Besides, if you look around my house, you'd notice there is no book shortage going on...I have plenty to read. Still, I really want to read this book, (The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson) so I might just have to shell out the damn dollar after all because I really don't know if it is something I want to own. *sigh* I hate caving to things with which I don't agree!