I was reading an online discussion on the "Libraries" subreddit. Someone had asked about printing and what different libraries do about the costs of their printing. The questioner's perspective was that they weren't making any money with their printing payment system, and they weren't sure, but they might even be losing money.
Responses from across the library world varied. Some people were pretty salty about any implications that a library might want to not lose money on printing. After all, libraries are funded by the community to provide useful information, environments, and even services to the community. Many people weighed in on the disaster of free printing, citing the people who invariably abused the largesse so badly that it could even break down the printing system by overwhelming it. Other library staff complained about the misery of dealing with a paid system and the increased strife, costs, and labor involved. And still others put forward their system's allowance of a limited amount a free printing tied to a library card.
Because I think my library system's solution is a shining beacon on the hill, I was surprised not to see it mentioned at all: We charge for printing, but it's an honor system. There are lock boxes next to the printers. We have prices. It's up to the library users to police their own usage.
The World is dangerous and mad. Terrible things are afoot. Nothing works. Corruption is running rampant. Human decency is choking on its rage. People are losing their fucking minds.
But, believe it or not, the world still runs mainly on trust.
All the good parts, that is.
But who am I to talk?
Did I write a comment in the library subreddit to explain our wondrous solution? No.
I'm sure nearly everyone there in that library world would be perfectly nice about my comment.
But out on the Internet at least, there is always one asshole...
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If you were wondering, yes, you should comment. Not only does it remind me that I must write in intelligible English because someone is actually reading what I write, but it is also a pleasure for me since I am interested in anything you have to say.
I respond to pretty much every comment. It's like a free personalized blog post!
One last detail: If you are commenting on a post more than two weeks old I have to go in and approve it. It's sort of a spam protection device. Also, rarely, a comment will go to spam on its own. Give either of those a day or two and your comment will show up on the blog.