The Reverse CD Mystery

[MrsEclipse]

This is one that's been haunting me for a while. It began on an otherwise innocent evening at the local library, where the college up the street comes to study when the renovations get too loud.

We're known as a very diverse place, which apparently means I never get the same SC twice in a row. Sometimes I one who thinks she shouldn't pay her fines, and then one that can't understand why the book he placed on hold two hours ago isn't in, and then one who wants to renew a book for a third time, despite the fact that it's not allowed by either managment or computer software.

The most memorable SC I ever had, however, was one I never saw.

See, we rent DVDs and audiobooks. I hear most librarys do, nowadays. When returning them, we must check for each and every disc or cassette, becasue it's very common for a patron to forget the last one in their player. Fortunately, it's more common that they forget than that they're trying to rip us off. Tha'ts nice.
The easiest way to check for the presence of all needed CDs is to find the last four digits of the bar code on the back of the box and then on the inner ring of the CD. (With a cassette, it's faster to check the title. Heaven only knows where the number ended up. I live in fear that soemone will check out two of the same casettes and then switch one around. We'd never know.) Match that to the number on the back of the box that says "LOOK FOR 4 DISCS" and you're golden.

Every now and again I'll open an audiobook and the discs will spill out at me. The person who had them last was in such an incredible rush to get from one disc to the next, the poor guy couldn't slip them into the slots. Never fear! Just throw them into the case and we at the library will take care of it for you! We're just that dedicated. (To be fair, I'm actually only half-sacrastic in this paragraph. I don't mind putting your discs away, and I don't resent your lazy ass for not doing it.)

But this one time, I went to check the numbers of a long book on CD, only to find that they had all been placed in backwards.

I checked twice- yes, they were backwards. The title, disc number, barcode number, and logo were all facing the back of the pocket, leaving the shining backside of the CD looking back at me. (Huh. The way I wrote that makes it sound like I was being mooned by 12 CDs.)

I checked all the others, and they were all. in. backwards.

I have no idea why.

Since this has happened, I've spent many lonely nights lying awake in bead, working up solutions to the Reverse CD Mystery and have come up with many possible explinations, but none of them are satisfactory.

Theory 1) He thought the shiny side was supposed to face outwards. If so, why? Did he not see how they came? If not, why? And could he not check the other eleven put in one way? Maybe he took them all out at once. But why would he do that? I've never heard of that- most people leave them in the sleeve if they're not in the player, to reduce damage and the chance of loosing one. Did he think the data that needed protecting was on the face? He couldn't becasue he managed to use all 12 CDs. Or did he? Maybe he returned them because he thought they didn't work. But then, why didn't he say anything? Did he think we needed to see the back at the library rather than the front? Did he have 12 consecutive brain farts? I just don't know!

Theory 2) It was easier for his wrist- the way he transported the CDs from his player to the case, his wrist could bend more comfortably than if he put them in face-first. Although I've tried several scenarios, I can't quite picture how he would be holding his player and case positioned how, to make that easier. I currently have a program running on my computer simulating case-to-player positions that would make it easier for the wrist to put a CD in backwards. As soon as it comes up with a plausible one, it will alert me.

Theory 3) He put them in without looking. But then, there should be a mix of face-ups and face-downs. They shouldn't all be facing one way, the wrong way. The chances of all twelve coming up the wrong way are just unbelievable. You have 12 CDs, each with two sides... it doesn't take a math genius to figure out how many combinations can be made with those figures, although I sure don't know how to come up with it.

Theory 4) His player was upside-down. This one is the least plausable of all.

Theory 5) He secretly hates me.

This is a situation which which will haunt me for the rest of my entry-level life. I do believe it will one day be the death of me.

[HYHYBT]

I'd go for 6)As a sort of bookmark: the upside-down ones are the ones I've already heard. Or else 7) Just to be different, either without realizing at all that it'd mean more work for you. Both are *exactly* the sort of thing I'd do were I to get an audiobook from the library without seeing your post first.

[42_42_42]

Theory 6) He turned them "wrong side out" so he'd keep track of which ones he'd listened to already.

Sorry, that's actually the first thing I thought of.

[Plank]

I would have thought perhaps OCD, but hyhybt's theory makes sense too, assuming he's enough of a git not to turn them back for you (not exactly a massive leap)

[Darkforge]

Theory 2) It was easier for his wrist- the way he transported the CDs from his player to the case, his wrist could bend more comfortably than if he put them in face-first. Although I've tried several scenarios, I can't quite picture how he would be holding his player and case positioned how, to make that easier. I currently have a program running on my computer simulating case-to-player positions that would make it easier for the wrist to put a CD in backwards. As soon as it comes up with a plausible one, it will alert me.

This is plausible. My DVD player stands on its side and is one of those that just has a slot that you slide the disc into (no tray) and so when I eject a disc and pick it up with my left hand I end up with the shiny side against the palm of my hand. I always get annoyed about the fact that I have to turn the disc over each and every time in order to have it shiny side down in the case.

2 other options:
1: (already mentioned, but I have seen people do it before) My Aunt always turns discs upside down as she goes through a DVD box set so she knows which ones she's watched.

2: A lot of places check the shiny side of dvd's for scratches when they get given in (especially shops that take trade ins) and so they may have thought it would save you some time as you can tell that they aren't scratched without having to take each one out and turn it over to look at it.

[MrsEclipse]

Thanks a lot. I was kind of exaggerating telling the story, as you can tell, but I really did wonder why on earth someone would do that. I never thought "bookmark" because of the way people around me listen to them, there's always an empty slot so you just pick the one after it.

[Sheldonrs]

Well, when you think about it, it could make sense. The borrower may have been getting the audio books because he/she is dyslexic.

[Daskinor]

I know allot of people who think putting the disk in the regular way makes it more prone to scratching while being transported.

[MrsEclipse]

Well, when you think about it, it could make sense. The borrower may have been getting the audio books because he/she is dyslexic.

ROFL! Good one.

[fireheart]

And a good thread isn't complete without Sheldonrs.

But yes....the reverse CDs are odd....

[cinema guy]

I never thought "bookmark" because of the way people around me listen to them, there's always an empty slot so you just pick the one after it.

Not if you don't listen to them all at once. If he listens to two discs one day, and then puts them back. A couple of days later he listens to another and puts it back. Three or four days later he comes to pick it up, and can't remember whether he's listened to two or three discs.

My mum is like that whenwatching a TV series on DVD, she has to write herself a note so she remembers which episode she has gotten to.

[HYHYBT]

I never thought "bookmark" because of the way people around me listen to them, there's always an empty slot so you just pick the one after it.

If you don't listen to anything else until the book's finished, sure. But, for example, I listen to audiobooks and so forth when I'm alone in the car, but put on music when I have passengers. (I also use an iPod for this, but if I *were* using CD's I'd probably flip the ones I'd heard all the way through.)

[Bagboy]

I thought you had meant backmasking... I'm so sorry

[MrsEclipse]

Not if you don't listen to them all at once. If he listens to two discs one day, and then puts them back. A couple of days later he listens to another and puts it back. Three or four days later he comes to pick it up, and can't remember whether he's listened to two or three discs.

My mum is like that when watching a TV series on DVD, she has to write herself a note so she remembers which episode she has gotten to.

That makes sense. I think it's because people I know listen to the book all the way through, so it's always in sequence and never an interruption for music, unless it's in a different player. Even when I'm in the car and have no idea what's going on, so I have nothing to listen to and can't make conversation with anybody who's listening already. Jerks. But that's not the point. The point is, I like the internet because I can learn how people who aren't around me do things. Thus, I learn and grow.

And a good thread isn't complete without Sheldonrs.

I still have much to learn.

[flutes_and_fabric]

I refused to pay a fine once because I had returned a CD, gotten back to my car, and realized that the insert for the CD was sitting on my passenger seat. I even stuck a note on it that said "sorry, I didn't realized this wasn't in the case." A month later I have a $20 fine because apparently they saw a CD without and insert, and an insert without a CD...and tossed them in a box in the back because they couldn't be put out on the floor. No one thought of putting 2 and 2 together? I even turned them in a week early. Anyway, they were both sitting in the box together and records showed the CD was turned in on time, so the fine was waved. But it was just annoying.