- Cape Rolling Out Bloomfield Road Art Trail (8/21/19)1
- Donors Pledge Almost Two Grand To Replace SEMO's Possibly Sentient ‘Gum Tree' (8/16/18)
- SEMO and The Will To (Become A Consultant) – Part 2 (6/14/18)
- SEMO and The Will To Do (You Really Want To See That Legal Notice?) – Part 1 (6/4/18)
- Judge, Jury... Trashman (6/1/18)
- Diary of Cape Girardeau Road Deconstruction (5/11/18)
- Trying To Save A Tree From City “Improvements” (4/30/18)2
Why Did The Library Have $2700 On Hand?
When I was a little kid, I liked to hide the money I saved up from my allowance. It wasn't that I didn't trust my brother or sister, but I guess hiding it made me feel like I was one of those pirates that I read about in books from my local library.
It was me buried treasure, matey! AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR! (That's the written version of my pirate impression. I assure you that it is much better in person.)
My childhood treasure never exceeded more than a few dollars at any given time and I never actually ever buried any of it. The money only left hiding places in my bedroom when I retrieved it to buy something.
After reading about the reputed break-ins at the Cape Girardeau Public Library that appeared on this website yesterday and in the Southeast Missourian this morning, I get the impression that whomever is in charge at our brand-spanking-new-state-of-the-art-media-mecca also appreciates the pirate banking system.
It's the only reason I can think of as to why anyone would be so fiduciarily irresponsible as to squirrel away $2700 in overdue book and video fine booty in a desk drawer and think that was a safe location.
To be fair, it does sound like the library may not have had the entire $2700 all on hand at one time. Apparently they've had multiple "break-ins" -- wink-wink, nudge-nudge -- in the last month.
That's why this second installment of my 13,389 part series focusing on Fixing The World is dedicated to the Cape Girardeau Public Library.
Allow me to first offer the abridged version of this blog to whomever is in charge at that facility:
Banks are OK.
Why in the world a library -- of all places -- had that much cash on hand, completely escapes me. Do they not trust banks? Yes, I know the economy is in the crapper, but none of our local institutions have been taken over by the feds.
However, I really have to question their judgment if their idea of beefing up security after the first theft occurred was to merely change the drawer the money was being locked up in. Did they really think that solution was going to deter a thief?
The exact amount of money on hand at any given time wasn't reported in the online version of this story, but even if the library only had a $1000 dollars on hand, I have to wonder why? Why would they need more than a $100 in their cash drawer at any time much less $2700?
Were they expecting several thousand overdue books and DVDs to all come in at one time?
And why would they keep that amount of cash in what I presume were various standard locked desk drawers is another head-scratcher. If they didn't trust banks, then why not run out to Wal-Mart and pickup a nice little safe for $100 or so?
Or they could have hidden the money in one of the books that nobody ever looks at. I did that as a kid. I took an old hardback and cut a hidey-hole out of it's interior. I think that probably would have been been more secure than a locked desk drawer. It's amazing what you can hide in plain sight.
These thefts baffle me. And the suggestion that these reputed break-ins are anything but an inside-job makes me feel bamboozled.
The whole situation seems to boil down to one word:
Pisspooraccountingprocedures
I suggest someone at the library go look it up and do the exact opposite of its definition from now on.
There should be a dictionary in the reference section.
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