"That is ROBBERY!!!!"

[mandaliz8704]

I used paper bags as well. I loved it when they were about 6 months old and were furry from the paper fibers sticking out.

[protege]

In grade school, we had to keep our books covered. Most of mine were simply paper bags, but sometimes I'd "mix it up" and use newspaper. That last one used to piss off my teachers--I'd occasionally be reading the comics

As to that entitled parent, I just have one bit of advice... "Open up yer wallet, you cheap bastard!"

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My mom asked my sister once to put a cover on the borrowed copy of The Tommyknockers she was reading.

My sister made one out of a brown bag, and being the artistic person she is, drew a sketch of a monster on the cover.

And being the smartass she is, also made a nice title: The Tallywhackers.

Took my mom several days to notice it. In the meantime, she wondered frequently about the double takes and outright stares her book was getting.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I hate people who make generalizations like that.

It's like the people I run into at work who think DS games should cost like $3 each because "they're so darn small!"

[MrsEclipse]

Strange! You went to my college???

Over my life I have learned something: There are many wonderful, fantastic professors of English in circulation today. You will probably not have them. We're very sorry.

And I never, ever used book covers, nor have I met anyone in school who does. I honestly didn't realize they were so widespread until I really paid attention around BTS time. So clearly they're not required for academic success. And no, you can't see my GPA! Trust me. It- it's not the book covers.

Love the daughter, too.

[JustaCashier]

Now I know one shouldn't "ASS-U-ME", but wouldn't there have been a price clearly marked, near the product?

If she's so damned concerned about the cost of something, wouldn't she take an extra moment while at the product shelf/display, to look for a price?

Sometimes I wonder how kids like the SC's daughter come out so good from such parents like that SC.

Must be the Recessive Non-Sucky Gene. Probably hasn't appeared in her lineage, since at least her Grandparents, or Great-Grands.

Mike

[Dave1982]

Now I know one shouldn't "ASS-U-ME", but wouldn't there have been a price clearly marked, near the product?

Oh yes, the prices were quite clearly marked. But come now, you know about SCs and signs.

[cinema guy]

My mum was a teacher so she always had clear sticky plastic lying round at home so our books were covered in that, which was kind of boring but robust and doodle-proof. I could never do it without getting bubbles in it, but she was a dab hand at getting nice smooth covers.

[joe hx]

I would either use the paper bags or free book covers from the local Army recruiter.

One thing I always noticed is that book covers did no good for protecting the books. I spilled grape soda all over one of my books and ruined it (but oddly enough the teacher didn't check for damage... so I didn't have to pay for it).

[TonyDonuts]

Oh yes, the prices were quite clearly marked. But come now, you know about SCs and signs.

And don't forget the whole "add-subtract-multiply-divide' thing. Lots of these missing links have a lot of trouble with that.

[LadyAndreca]

Paper bags all through middle school, here. I was another doodler, until high school when I discovered that the extra section in 5-subject notebooks could be used for writing stories and stuff. I still have my high school notes because of that...my stories are AWFUL fanfics, for the most part, but there's one or two I keep meaning to rewrite.

[Food Lady]

While I agree that the customer was sucky in her reaction, I agree w/ her opinion. Five dollars IS high; I'd expect to find those things in our dollar bins. But some schools around here require the fabric covers, as environmentally-unfriendly as they are. (We used paper grocery bags when I was in school, but times have changed.)

[ta2ooed1]

Am I the only one who saw the title and thought

"This is SPARTA!!!!!!!!!!!111ELEVENTY111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Jay 2K Winger]

One of the high schools I attended provided simple paper covers for the text books. One side was blank white, the other side had some advertisements from local businesses. Most students used the white side out and some (like Yours Truly) would doodle on them.

My chemistry cover had a drawing of a guy in a lab coat tossing a chemical from one flask to another. The back cover had the same guy in a tattered coat, holding broken flasks, charred and burned.

Sadly, it got thrown away.

[blas]

We were always threatened with.....something (never found out what) if we didn't cover our books.

Being dirt poor, I used paper bags. But I always needed new covers because it didn't take too long to doodle all over every single book. Yeah, I hated school every year.