1998?… Huh?….
Well, I was borrowing some books from orchard library today, and I saw some words in red moving across the scanning machine’s screen like ticker symbols. It read "overdue book fine.." or something like that…
Strange…
Normally, if i fancy a book, i will just buy it directly from kino or borders. So naturally, I have not borrowed a single book from any national library for countless years. So how the hell did i manage to get fined out of a sudden? Think, think, think….
A trip to the library counter somewhat solved the whole mystery…
"Sir, you had two books overdued. They were "Murder on the Orient Express" and "First Impression" which you borrowed in 1998 but returned them two days late last time. That would be a fine of fifteen cents per book, so thirty cents in total. Would you like to pay the fine now, or wait until a later time?" The librarian laughed as she said the last few words in amusement…
Bewildered and stunned by the situation as well as the librarian’s quirky sense of humor, I managed an awkward smile, fished out my ezlink card and paid the thirty cents fine. Yes, i kind of remember reading those two books, but I must have returned them before the due date. Did I? Maybe it is a conspiracy manifested by the library management to cheat innocent people of their loose change. Many thirty cents can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars indeed. Or maybe I really did not return the books on time… Hmmm…
Who the hell can remember what happened during 1998….
