The Tragedy of Obsolescent Formats

Most of the local population has discarded their old VCRs after upgrading to DVD machines, and VCR players are becoming hard to find. The library still has a couple of VHS viewing stations, which primarily seem to serve as a comfortable place for patrons to come down off of drugs and alcohol as they while away the time until their next SSI disability check arrives and they can re-up. (OH I KID, I KID) Often patrons will come in and ask to view their own personal VHS tapes, but there is a strict policy that only tapes belonging to the library can be watched, so they are turned away. I thought this was because the library feared liability issues with damaged tapes, but now I see the wisdom of the policy after a patron came in wanting to view a big stack of his VHS format porno. This guy really had no shame, because after a lot of indignant huffing he then demanded that the librarian look up places around town where he could view his tapes.