Despite being a curmudgeon, I try very hard to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the evidence that many people are inconsiderate, careless, stupid, or all of these is overwhelming.  One piece of evidence is the DVDs that we rent.  Rarely do we rent a DVD that isn't scratched, smudged, or covered with fingerprints on the playing surface.  While it's true that most DVDs will still play without a hitch if they're slightly scratched or dirty, I hate to get part way into a movie and have the disc skip.  Then I must remove the disc, clean it or treat it with disc-repair gunk, and relocate the scene where the disc skipped.  Sometimes the disc is so damaged that even that isn't enough.

Digital discs have been around long enough that one would expect people to know that one is not supposed to touch the playing surface but to handle them carefully by holding the edges.  Yet I often see fingerprints clear enough that the culprit could be identified by the FBI without even dusting for prints.  Worse yet, people return to the rental store discs that look as if they have been dragged across gravel, given to a two-year-old to play with, or used as a serving dish.

I'm proud to say that most of the discs I rent are returned in better condition than I found them.  I could never make it as the proprietor of a video rental store because I would inspect every disc after it was returned.  If a customer regularly returned scratched, dirty, or finger-printed discs, I would revoke that customer's privileges.  Unfortunately, there are so many inconsiderate slobs that, before long, I wouldn't have many customers left.

Please, if you rent DVDs, handle them properly and keep them away from little kids, drunks, and the family dog or cat.