From the Inkwell, From the Vein.....

Probably the MOST asked question in a bookstore---or, at least in our bookstore--- is: Where is your non-fiction section? We've all had our moments where we patiently explain to the customer that "technically" the entire store is non-fiction, except for the section actually labeled FICTION, and is there something specific you're looking for....  9 times out of 10 these customers are looking for the True Crime section---which I've always thought was odd, but hey, it is what it is. I had one of these non-fiction customers today and she too fell into the "I'm really looking for your True Crime section, but I like to sound more (sophisticated?) so I'll ask for non-fiction" category. After taking her to the True Crime section, she pauses for a second after looking around and says, "wow, it's such an itty bitty section." My internal dialogue as I walked away went something like this: Okay, 2 bookcases standing 6 feet tall and ...

That's 2 ins of solid ice folks, solid and unmoving Yesterday was my first official day of vacation , and what did I do? Watch the sleet and freezing rain accumulate and cover our entire little world---- surprising because it had been ~60 F the day before. Not so surprising because, well, it's bipolar season for the South. My husband didn't make it home last night. His boss convinced him to stay overnight for safety reasons, even agreed to pay him---wish I could get paid to have a sleep-over at work. Thankfully, we didn't lose power. So, the cat and I snuggled in the recliner, enjoying that we didn't have to go anywhere. I know the South gets a bad rap for our inability to cope with winter weather. But, give us a break, it's hard to deal with something you only see 3 days out of the year. Really, though, the issue isn't piles of snow, it's ICE. Because we have such bipolar weather, a 2-in "nothing" of snow will melt at noon, only to...

Customers are strange creatures. The last couple of days have been an exercise in reminding me of this----- Somewhere along the way, the idea of a bookstore has become synonymous with an information help line (seems plausible as we generally have quite a bit of updated information at our fingertips), though most often, we are used as a library (again very plausible, in most schools and perhaps some homes, children are taught how libraries work well before they understand how to purchase a book). Those of us in the retail end of the book business deal with these things on a daily basis--we've all had the customer who expects us to find the red book he saw promoted on his favorite news program 3 weeks ago that we had on a table near the door 2 weeks prior and why don't we have it waiting for him at customer service already.... *sigh* But, sometimes there are moments in the day where we pause for a moment and think to ourselves, really? Did he/she just ask that? Most things ar...