It was an ordinary day. Reading about a fellow who lives in San Francisco who recently returned a Bob Dylan album that he had borrowed from a library in Ohio 48 years ago! Guy by the name of Howard Simon who had borrowed the album from his University Heights Middle School library in 1973. He checked it out when he was in eighth grade and finally found it between two other Dylan albums that are now in his personal vinyl collection.
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| Self Portrait is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. released on June 8, 1970, by Columbia Records. Photograph of the album cover is above. |
I can imagine how he must have felt when he was probably sorting through his record collection and he came upon this particular album. His guilt evidently took over and he sent a letter, along with a monetary amount, to the library telling what had happened. He is much like me in that he is a recent retiree who is trying to stay busy and decided it was time to sort through various collections to see what could be done with them. I can imagine the chill that must have run up and down his spine when he came upon the album. He packaged it and sent it with a note that read, "As a recent retiree, I am taking the opportunity to turn my attention to some of the many vignettes of life that by dint of career and family have been neglected these many years. I am returning with this letter an overdue item by my count, approximately 17,460 days overdue as of this writing. The album cover is a little battered after traveling with me from University Heights to San Francisco with various stops in between." The library said that the records remained in "great shape." Mr. Simon also sent the library a $175 replacement fee for "Self Portrait" along with an album he recorded, "Western Reserve," for possible inclusion in the library's collection. I'm not quite sure why he chose the amount he did, but perhaps that is what the current value of the album is at this time in history. A paragraph from the article I read in the newspaper said that the library bore no hard feelings, or sense that Mr. Simon wasted their precious time, essentially telling him in the press release..."don't think twice; it's all right." They also said that the funny thing about this is that they don't charge overdue fines anymore. As long as they get them back, they see no need to penalize people. The library's manager, Sara Phillips, said, "We're grateful that Mr. Simon returned the record. I'd say we can not call it even." Have you ever done something like this in your life. A few years ago I was cleaning out my office drawers and found a key I had borrowed from the girl we rent from on the island of St. Martin. I had every intention to return it to her before we left the island that year, but I somehow forgot to do so. Never heard from her or never thought about it until I found it a few months ago. I sent an immediate email to her and she returned the email saying she had forgotten she had given the key to me. Told me to bring it with me when we arrive the next time in St. Martin. I recently made a small stained glass window to take with us to give to her for not returning the key she had given to me. It happens to just about all of us from time to time. If it were you, would you just forget about it...or would you do as Mr. Simon did and send a note of apology with a check to cover the time he had the album. Each of us has different values which we more than likely learned as a child. Some wouldn't see any problem in just keeping the album while others would feel so guilty they would do what Mr. Simon did. As they say...to each their own! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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