Tonight, while I was working, I made a swing through the kid's department. I always enjoy going into the kids department (particularly when there aren't any kids in said department) and look at the books. I particularly like the picture books. I noticed this one tonight. I figgered ol Aardie hisself might like to take a gander at it. Its a cute book actually. Speaking of being a bookseller, or as I like to call myself a "bookpeddler..." I get a kick out of people who come into the store and get all teary eyed and say "Oh, I would loooooooove to have your job. I would never get anything done and I wouldn't have a paycheck... it must be nice to read all day..." I feel like I have a V8 moment and I just want to laugh at them.
and then I realize that I, too, felt that way many moons ago. Being a bookpusher really isn't that bad. I get tired of people walking in and saying "I'm looking for a book?" (It is always in the form of an uptalk "statement") and then they add my ultimate favorite phrase "but I don't remember the name of the arthor..." (its never an "author" its always "arthor") "... or the name of the book." Then the I get to say "Describe the cover?" Nine times out of ten they'll say "It was blue and it's brand new, it was just published." Six out of ten times the book is more than three years old and its invariably red. But you'd be surprised after some careful questioning and simple "jog the memory" questions I can usually figure out where they heard about it. More often than not they heard about the book either on a show on NPR, Oprah, or the Today show. 
It does get tiring sometimes having to figure out exactly what the customer wants. I feel like giving them a kick in the ass and a quarter so they can buy a clue, but instead I walk them to the section, take the book of the shelf, hand the book to them, and in my sweetest voice possible ask them if they need anything else (in the back of my mind I hear a voice say "go ahead, punk, make my day") and then the transaction ends no fuss and no muss... until I get back to the customer service desk and someone says "I'm looking for a book? I don't know the arthor or the title, but it was just published... can you help me?" And away we go, round and round, the sick, psycho circus....
I read mainly non-fiction, with a stray fiction here and there thrown in for good measure. I stick with history and biography. Every once and a while, I'll dip into some theology, but I find that stuff to be fairly dry. I read poetry, too. I have a natural curiosity so I'll find myself skimming just about anything. Right now, I'm reading this book. I'm enjoying it. I'm about half way through. I'm reading it on my breaks. This one is on my list to read soon. I started it when it first came out, but my father told me he wanted to buy it for me for Christmas, so I stopped reading it so I could read it after I got it. I'm also reading this book. It started out really good, but its starting to drag... I'm going to force myself to finish it, though.
I like talking about books and telling people about books. We all have our crosses to bear... lol
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