The Bookstore

    Working at a bookstore has taught me three things; none of which could really be applied to a normal situation in life outside of a bookstore. But it's those kinds of lessons that we as humans like to ponder and see the deeper meanings.

    First, there is no such thing as too many or too few books. I have seen customers purchase a stack of twelve because they want some light reading for the next few days, and I have seen customers argue about why their friend is buying another book instead of just checking one out at the library, "You can only really read it once. It's always going to be the same beginning, middle, and end no matter how many times you read it. There isn't any point to owning books now adays."
    I will admit, that at hearing these words, two emotions pervaded my mind. 1: Shock and awe that anyone could say owning books isn't point-ful. 2: Mind numbing anger that would have lead to harsh comments if I wasn't in a place of my own employment.
    No point? But books are life! Books are how we pass on knowledge. It's the most pure form of entertainment imaginable. It's literally reading someone elses' mind, making the reader practically a super hero. No point... lies.
    Which leads me to lesson number one: readers are readers. E-readers may be just a little less of a reader, but that's a lesson still being learned. A reader loves a book. In the case of the second customer, berating their friend because of owning books, it is just apparently easier to not become emotionally involved with the book. But loving a book doesn't mean clasping it to your chest for dear life. No.
    Books are very "in the moment" objects. You can pick them up and put them down and loan them out and borrow them and lose them and forget about them and suddenly remember that that book changed your life. Any way you put it, a book's existence is dependent on you reading it, not it gathering dust on a shelf.

    Lesson 2! Now that I have talked about readers, and how we all love books and should thus be holding hands, singing camp fire songs, and discussing our favorite anti-heroes, I would like to point out that some readers just don't get it.
    "Excuse me, what else has 'Jane Eyre' written?"
    "Is 'The Beautiful and Damned' a sequel to 'The Great Gatsby'?"
    "Harry Potter was awful!" (This last one be fightin' words, bro.)
    I get asked these kind of questions every day and still don't understand why people don't know! I'm not by any means the most knowledgeable person when it comes to books. (Meet some of my co-workers. Some of them seem to have read each classic plus each new release fiction for the past 6 years. And can quote from them.) But at the same time, there are some things people should know when buying books.
    "No. 1984 isn't the edition of the book."
    Which leads me to lesson número dos. There is always more to learn about books. There are 300 new books published a day, not including self published ones. So if someone is confused and gets the facts mixed up (I still can't pronounce "Marcel Proust" right) then it's my job as a bookseller to educate, and then enlighten.

    Last lesson. Number 3. For those texters out there, also known as the curvy part on <3.
    Now some people, who shall remain nameless mostly because I don't know their names, hate books. I have had people come in and never once pick something up because they had only followed their friend in, and are too bust texting to notice the vast amounts of book-like heaven around them. I have overheard people say things like, "No I don't like reading. Really if it isn't in People Magazine, I don't really care."
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    O_O
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    Terrifying.
    Now, as you can obviously tell from the rest of this post, I'm in no way, shape, or form a judgemental person ( *wink*). But there are just somethings you don't say out loud.
So lesson three... Some people just don't like books, and really you don't need that kind of negativity in your life. So smile, move on, and purchase a new hard cover re-printing of the complete works by William Blake, because frankly, it's awesome.

   So class, the three lessons I've learned thus far in working at an Indie Bookstore. 1, readers are readers and we all love books differently. 2, some people need a little help, and those of us who can, should. 3, books are an essential part of life, even if you just enjoy reading instruction manuals. If you don't agree, you're doing it wrong.

Brio.