“Excuse me?” This girl who was sitting two seats away from me in my chemistry lecture hall was talking to me. So I look up from my cell phone (mid-text) and from my Sodoku puzzle (that I was nearly complete) and go “Yes?”
Then she smiles at me and goes “Would you happen to have the notes from the lecture on Tuesday?”
A perfect stranger was asking me for my notes so she could copy them because she, for some reason, wasn’t there that day. Now I could have been nice and gave her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was sick. But I really not a very nice individual to people that I don’t know and nor am I particularly generous to people that I don’t know when there’s about a million other reasons why they could have not been in class on Tuesday. They could have slept in, been really hung over, been drinking in the afternoon, eating a really long lunch, having sex, sleeping in the library during their break, just really didn’t feel like going or decided that their time (for a course that they paid for, in advanced) was better spent doing other things, like burning ants with magnifying glasses or kicking small children.
Either way, I told her that I had them. Her face lit up and her eyes went a little wider, her smile a little more broad.
“Could I borrow them?”
I smiled at her, this fake cheery smile and then I go “No, sorry, I don’t lend my notes out to people that I don’t know. But I’m sure someone will let you see their notes.”
I’m such a bitch sometimes. That being said, I am willing to lend my notes to people that I know and people that I actually believe when they tell me that they’re sick. For example, if M from my biology class were to tell me that he was sick one day and needed notes, I would believe him. Why? Because he’s attended very single biology lecture (that I know of) since I’ve met him and he’s attended every single biology lab (we have the same lab time) since the beginning of the course. Plus he’s a sweetheart and I’d trust him not to lie to me. However, if J from my chemistry class were to tell me that she was sick last Thursday and wanted to see my notes, I’d politely inform her that I don’t have them on me (lies, lies!). Why? Because she’s skipped about half of the lectures so far and we’ve only had eight lectures since the beginning of the term.
I take back the ‘I’m such a bitch sometimes’ comment. It’s more like, I’m practical and generous to those who deserve it.
I wouldn’t give them out to people I don’t know either, plus you wouldn’t know if you’d get them back or not and if so in how many pieces. Your smart and none of the above hehe
Well, it makes sense to me! It’s pretty hard to trust people you don’t know. There’s the problem!
I probably wouldn’t lend them either since what would happen if they weren’t returned.
At least I have the excuse of denying people my notes because they’re mostly illegible. Partly because of the handwriting, but mostly because I use a form of shorthand that I couldn’t explain if I tried. All I need is a few keywords to remember exactly what I read, or what the professor said.
I’m the same exact way. I rarely lend my notes to people unless I know them well and know that they would have a valid excuse.
Plus it doesn’t help that my notes are practically illegible. xD I not only write down the lecture, I write down whatever pops into my head (song lyrics, poetry, random brainstorming etc.). They’re particularly insane around NaNoWriMo. xD