University library employee reports increasing student entitlement towards loaned laptops since 2020: 'I've had more than one patron demand I get them a different laptop because the one I grabbed from the cabinet didn't look nice enough'

Author image for Olivia Arocena
Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Jun 28, 2026 11:15 AM EDT

When a gift creates a sense of entitlement

When we pay for something, the transaction is clear: I give you money, you give me what I paid for. With gifts, something more elusive happens: For some people, receiving something as a gift creates a sense of entitlement that masks an underlying dependence on what was given to them. Some people defend themselves from that feeling of dependency by treating what was given to them as something they were owed. For other people, it's the other way round; they can't process that they're receiving something without feeling like they have an enormous debt to the giver. Aside from these cheap psychological observations, this university library employee noticed that since 2020, students have behaved in a more entitled way towards their free laptops. Do you think she might be in the right? Or is it a False Cause Fallacy?

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • silver laptop on womans lap
    via Brooke Cagle

    A model depicting a student using her free laptop

  • The entitlement over FREE THINGS is getting worse

    I work at a university library and we circulate laptops. Students can check them out for a week at a time, and when the week is up, they can come back and swap it out for another one (given that we have laptops available to
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • do so). Since 2020 co id era, late returns and lost laptops have skyrocketed. When a laptop is overdue for too long it's marked as "lost" in the system and IT remotely locks the laptop
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • so it can no longer be used; a message on the screen says something to the effect of "this is property of [university] and is considered stolen property, return it now." Patrons also get multiple email reminders when the
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • laptop is coming up due and they sign a contract at checkout stating that they're responsible for our property while they borrow it. There are no "oh but I didn't know" excuses. If they're overdue too many times or go lost, the patron
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • gets a suspension and can't check out anymore laptops for a week, multiple weeks, or permanently.
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • There's always been a few overdue laptop loans here and there, but like I said, it's gotten so much worse since 2020.
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • The laptops are in limited supply and they are old, so aesthetically they're a little banged up (scratches, electrical tape over de d ports, rubber lining around the screen bowing up, etc. it's nothing really terrible and they still work). We're
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • a library, we don't have money to buy a new fleet every year. I've had more than one patron demand I get them a different laptop because the one I grabbed from the cabinet didn't look nice
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • enough. I tell them, "Oh it works just fine" and they say "No, I need another one." Fine. I'll go to the cabinet and take my time taking out each laptop bag, one by one, open the bag, pull
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • out the laptop, inspect it, put it back, grab another and do it again until I find something satisfactory for your highness. Oh sorry, you're in a hurry to get to class? You could take that perfectly functional laptop right there and all will be
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • well. One girl came to check out a laptop, I pulled up her account and she had a one week suspension. I use my nicest customer service voice to explain that she can't check out a
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • laptop for a week, but she's welcome to use the desktops in the building and here's the other resources we have, blah blah blah. You know the drill.
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • She gives me a dirty look and says "Man, my student fees pay for this." Yeah. You and every other student on campus. You are not special. You don't get to be irresponsible with our property and thus
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • broken black flat screen computer monitor
    via Ashcan Forouzani

    A representation of the defective laptop

  • I think it happens to the best of us that when you push a boundary enough, everything becomes sketchy, and it’s hard not to feel like you can do anything and there’ll be no consequences. It’s important that the students who received consequences don’t reverse or bypass them, so they learn that not everything is possible.

  • deny another student the opportunity to check out a laptop. Want to keep checking out equipment? Bring it back when it's due. You signed the contract, don't fuss now. Last week, the desk phone
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • rang and I answered it. It's a patron with a laptop. She says (not verbatim) "I have one of y'all's laptops and it was due yesterday but I'm gonna give it back to y'all on Friday. The screen is locked and says it's property of [university] but
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • I'm trying to do my coursework so I need y'all to take that off." Let me break this down: - "It was due yesterday" No, it was due a week ago. We can see your account
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • info, dummy - "I'm gonna bring it back to y'all on Friday" Wow how nice of you - "The screen is locked and I need y'all to take it off" The message explains
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • to you that you have stolen property that you need to bring back I did my little customer service spiel again, and she snaps "okay well I need to speak to a manager because I've
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • already explained my situation to y'all!" (I asked around and apparently she had mentioned to the person who checked her out that she was going out of town for a bit and she straight up assumed that we'd be fine letting her
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • keep it for three weeks) Anyway, I put my manager on the phone and he told her the same thing I did. Another guy called the desk last week and my colleague answers. "I have
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • a laptop but my leg is broken so I can't return it yet." Colleague gently explains that we can't help. him because he's already been granted a one-time extension before (we make notes on their account to keep track). Guy hangs up.
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • Twenty minutes later, phone rings again. It's guy. "My leg is broken and I don't understand why y'all won't accept that." Because you've already been granted an extension befooooore++
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • Oh, another tidbit: A guy damaged a laptop so we billed him for repairs...and he was utterly shocked that he had to pay for it. I think he actually said "wait, I'm responsible for that?" NO SH BUD, READ THE CONTRACT
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • YOU SIGNED And these are just a few examples. It's gotten so bad that we've had to change the policy and can no longer grant those one- time extensions without going through the
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • department head, which I'm happy about. People were too comfortable about calling with excuses and we had to stop being nice. It adds more friction now when a patron calls wanting extensions and I get to tell them "you can
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • speak to my manager, here's his contact information "It's funny to watch how fast they deflate. I'm sorry to sound nasty like that, but I've become so jaded by these people.
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • We're perfectly happy to work with people to help them be successful in their education, but something has genuinely changed because I have not seen so much anger and entitlement over FREE LAPTOPS.
    via Fuzzy-Ad-7691
  • woman looking through books on shelves
    via Becca Tappert

    A depiction of somebody actually using the library instead of the laptops

  • I do feel that with younger generations, things like boundaries, rules, and basic manners have become a lost art. I don’t think that shift started in 2020; I think it goes way back. Also, I feel that younger generations care so much more about how something looks; they’re so used to perfectly curated aesthetics that they can’t exist in a world with imperfect laptops. It’s hard not to become invested in these types of things when you work in customer service, but it would be best if the library employee could just communicate the rules and finish the conversation. What do you think, is a society with civil manners impossible to create again?

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article