The Missing Case

Last Friday, I returned the DVD of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to the local library. Unbeknownst to me, the disc was not in the case. That night when we turned on the DVD player to watch a different movie, I realized my mistake and went into panic mode.

"They're going to make me drive to the library that the DVD is from to return it. No wait, they're going to say, 'No problem, we'll take care of it' and then lose it!"

To be fair, we have a pretty cool library system. All the libraries within the same county are connected via computers and everyone with a library card here can borrow things from all these libraries. The Grinch movie I borrowed came from a library about half an hour away, but all I had to do was put a hold on it and it was delivered to the library closest to me and I could pick it up at my earliest convenience.

But there are times when I'm beginning to think the hassle outweighs the convenience. For example, quite often we find video tapes not having been rewound. And then about two weeks ago, I got a call from the library saying that the pamphlet inside a movie I'd borrowed and returned was missing and perhaps it was at my house. Fortunately for me, I had a vivid recollection of a sticker on the case of that movie specifying that the pamphlet was missing. So I pointed that out to the lady and suggested that perhaps they ask someone else where that pamphlet might be. 

Therefore it's not hard for me to start panicking when I found out that I had returned the case, but not the disc, of the movie.

The next morning, I called the library as soon as they were open. The lady answering the phone heard my story, then put me on hold to confer with her colleagues or look for the case. She came back saying, "Okay, you can just bring the disc in and we'll put them together." Boy! Was I relieved! That sounds like they still had the case, doesn't it? Maybe I was all paranoid about it after all!

I went to the library an hour later and found the lady that I'd spoken to. She remembered my story but told me that they didn't have the case! After taking the disc from me, she said she'd send it back and we should be all set. At this point my husband spoke up, "Is it possible for you to have it in paper saying that you got the disc from us?" She claimed that they never had to do that, but agreed to it any way. So she fumbled around, putting a note together and making a copy of it and having me sign and all kinds of stuff. As we walked out the door, my husband muttered, "What do you bet that they don't get them back together?" I muttered back, "There's no bet. I totally agree with you."

Tuesday morning, I went online to check on my library account. The movie was still on my record. The due date was the day after, so I renewed it. After dropping my daughter off at a camp that afternoon, I went to the local library to talk to one of the familiar faces behind the counter. After relating my story, I asked if she could check to see if the movie had been sent back. She swiped my library card and said, "I see that it's been renewed." "Yeah, I did that this morning because I didn't want it to be overdue."

And wouldn't you know it? They didn't have either one there. She said to me, "Just give it a few days and see if they turn up. If not, I'd call the XX library and ask them about it."

Yesterday (Wednesday) I called the library where the movie came from and told the lady about my story. She was very sympathetic and helpful. She called the other library in their city but neither library had seen the disc nor the case yet. "I'd give it a few more days and see if it clears from your account. If not, call your library and have them take a look" is all she could say.

Just when I thought all hope was lost, I got a call from a different person from the XX library that afternoon:

Toaster? We got the disc of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' this afternoon."
"You did? That's great!"
"But we still haven't seen the case."
"Oh no! But can you clear it from my account now?"
"No. We can't clear it until we've put the whole thing back together. Where did you return the case?"
"I brought it inside the local library. But they couldn't find it the next day. I wonder if they returned it without the disc and the case got stuck in the truck or something."
"Could be. Any way, I'd give it a few days and if it still doesn't clear, give your library a call."

Well, it's Thursday and the disc and case haven't reunited yet. So I went back to my local library and told someone else about my miserable story. She swiped my card and said, “I see that it's been renewed.” And I just wanted to say, “Duh! I renewed it so it wouldn't be overdue. How hard is it to figure that out?” But all I said was, “Yeah, I did that so it wouldn't be overdue.” She looked all over the place but still couldn’t find the case. And then she gave me the same departing wisdom: “I'd give it a few more days and see if they’d get it back. If not, call up the XX library.”

GEE! I'm beginning to detect a pattern here.

Logic dictates that when my local library didn't find a disc inside the case, they would have to put the case in the "snag shelf" and wait for the disc to show up before sending it back to the XX library. In fact, I can't think of one single reason why the case wasn't there the first time we checked!  As for their universal "give it a few days" attitude, I guess they've never watched a missing-person drama to know that the longer you wait, the colder the trail runs.

So here's what I've decided to do: I'll go back tomorrow around the same time I went last Friday and see if the same people are on duty and ask around. Perhaps someone will remember something about that case. The green color makes it hard to miss. Plus, it didn't have a disc inside!