Soon to be different.

My wife, when I told her what the last blog was about, said (and I'm paraphrasing now)"Don't you want to write a blog about how impending fatherhood is crushing down on you?" I asked what would happen if that was all I put in the blog... She said she would kick me. She doesn't lie about kicking people, so I decided I better add to the blog.
Last night I helped out at the midnight release part for Harry Potter: Book Number 7. Personally I think this would have been a better title, mainly because I think it's easier to sort series on the shelf whenever they are simply numbered... none of those crazy alphabetical SNAFUs to deal with. Anyway, I thought about my child (due after the first week of September) quite a bit last night during the event.

This is going to sound really bad, so I'm warning you all now.

I hoped that my kid (of unknown gender) wasn't like many of the kids there. I want my kid to read, to be a reader, but not to the fanatical level of some of the people there. There were normal people, sure, but the ones that really stick out were the dorks, nerds, geeks, and... well, you get the point. It wasn't just the kids either, the parents and staff were just as bad. MODERATION is the key in all aspects, and dorkiness something that requires constant vigilance and dedication to moderation. I guess I'm saying that the thing I'm most worried about when it comes to being a new father is that I really don't want my kid to be a dork. I don't want them to be someone that I wouldn't like now if I met them on the street.
I know that people say, "You're going to love them no matter what, because they're yours," but I want to like them too. This might be a common fear, but it's one I have nonetheless. There, I have blogged about impending fatherhood and my fear that my child will be someone I would have made fun of if we were contemporaries.

Tragedy of the Library

So, the water was shut off at work yesterday for about four hours. Those hours weren't so bad for me because I didn't have to "go," but I know what it must have been like for those who did. This got me to thinking about something I've been fleshing out for a while now. I'm not going to explain the thought process that connects this to the water being out, because I'm not sure I can. To name it, the thought I thought was of how the public library is the perfect example of the modern day Tragedy of the Commons.
For those of you who cannot follow links very well, the Tragedy of the Commons, in a nutshell, is the fate in store for property and resources shared equally by all citizens. In Europe, sometime well before anyone who bathed regularly lived there, cities and towns had grazing land set aside for use by everyone. Because anyone could use it, and everyone shared the burden of price but not the rewards of the sale, those to whom it was most profitable grazed cattle with abandon. In other words, they didn't pay for it so they didn't care. Today, it is not the grass that is being treated with disrespect, instead it is information.
Sure, everyone pays for the library. I'm going to ballpark a figure of a couple of dollars a year for this cost, and that's a pretty generous guess. For this paltry sum, everyone has access to free movies, books, music, databases, internet access, air conditioning, heat, restrooms (there, that's how it's connected!!!), chairs, newspapers, help, and someone to talk to (not to mention in-house entertainment, education, default babysitting, and historical preservation). However, since the cost is so low in exchange for the return, those who need it most use it most, and no one values it.
To combat this, libraries generated fines and fees to minimize and punish abuse. The current trend in libraries, however, is to do away with those mean ol' fines (which, honestly, weren't that effective anyway). With every fine amnesty day, the library damns itself to the muddy ruins of the commons. My previous blog about DVDs illustrates this point clearly. Why should someone be careful when handling something if it's owned by the library? Regardless of what you're thinking right now about how you don't think that way (and I know you are), others DO, consciously or not. This, not to be too redundant, is actually what ensures the tragedy of the commons.
This is also why libraries draw the freaks and outcasts of society (plus the homeless), but that's another blog.