Shut up it's free

I belong to the online bookswapping community, Bookmooch. You earn points for listing your books and mailing them to someone else; you spend those points by requesting a book from another user. The only cost is postage.

Lately, there's been a trend to add condition notes about the book. Whether it's torn, smelly, old, or whatever.

I refuse.

One, I'm too lazy to bother. Two, the book is free. If you don't like the condition it arrives in, it cost you nothing. No one is forcing you to read it. You can give it to another person, donate it, or simply recycle it. I don't care.

I mean, okay, when the book is really bad, like if it's missing a cover, I will type that into bookmooch. Generally though, all of my paperbacks are in the same condition as you'd find in a used book store. I find no point in describing what "like new, slightly used" means, or that there's a coffee stain on page 34.

I've actually had people email me to say, "I'd like to get this book, but I need to know the condition first."

Do you? Here's the condition: it's free so shut the heck up. I don't even bother to write back because eventually the person will decide how much they want it. It's not my job to convince you to get it; I'm the one who has to fork over $3 to mail it to you. I do not care if you request the book or not.

People need to get perspective and say, "hey thanks for the book!" Those ungrateful bibliophiles.