Scarecrow

"The books you borrowed are overdue. Return them immediately." The email title in Japanese stood out among English emails including those soliciting for the purchase of Viagra. I have been busy these days and completely forgot to return them. I put them in a bag and went to the library hoping that a clerk at the book-return counter is not the woman who gave me a good scolding last time a little more than necessary. My prayer was answered. There was a young woman smiling. "Returning books?"
"Yes, I'm very sorry these are overdue. I have been extremely busy and I forgot."
"Have you? It's good being busy."
"Is it?"
"Better than having nothing to do."
"Oh, yes, sure."
She never got back to the subject of my overdue books. I wished all the librarians were like her.
I walked around in the library and picked up a few books rather randomly. On my way to the borrowing counter, I passed in front of the exit / entrance gate. In the gate I saw a detector of a kind you see at the exit / entrance of a CD shop that is supposed to prevent people from getting out without checkout. I had never seen it work. Thinking back I had come to the library so many times and I had never heard the alarm that warned someone who was inadvertently going out without getting through the checkout counter. That's strange. Not all the people are perfect. I began to wonder if the machine was just a scarecrow, just a bluff.
Once I suspected so, I wanted to check it out. I wanted to hear what the alarming sound was like if it was not a bluff. I swung my book past between the gate plate. Nothing happened. It is bluff as I suspected. Then to confirm, I put it past slowly again.
"Beep, beep, beep, beep!"
The sound was a little higher in tone and weaker in loudness than I had expected. When I looked to the counter, all the clerks were looking in the direction where I was standing also surprised at the sound. I knew I had done something wrong. I walked to the counter wondering how to excuse.
"It's stupid of me to forget the checkout." I said putting the books on the counter. "I think there are sometimes people like me, aren't there?"
"No." he said bluntly. "Return these by May 6."