> I want to see the value of a field. I don't want an owned copy of said value, I just want to look at it, so returning reference makes _a lot more_ sense than returning a copy.

You can look at it with an owned copy. What is the issue? Is premature optimization the default mode in writing Rust? You don't see the issues with this?

> I'm expressing surprised that you think it's bad

You're surprised that someone simply has a different opinion? Your reaction failed to convey that.