The Inner Workings of the Criminal, errr Customer Mind...

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 spreading 4 feet across does seem small in relation to the size of our whole store. But, when you're dealing in an environment where every inch of real estate is precious as brick-and-mortar stores dwindle to the point of extinction, 8 feet is HUGE.

Then:

Well, not every criminal/crime has had someone write a book about it.

Then, as I finally made it around the corner:

Why would we want more True Crime books?

Shouldn't we be trying to figure out how to stop crime and never have another True Crime book written?

Just another day in customer land...Oy

A to Z reflections....

Another A to Z challenge comes to an end--- another collection of posts and poetry have been written, another deep breath of relief is released. For my fellow bloggers that survived as well, it's another 'challenge-completed' notch carved into the writing desk. I've come to enjoy my yearly foray into the world of all things alphabetical. This was my third year, though it was only the second year I had a workable theme (which made the challenge substantially easier than the first year I attempted this challenge.) And, though my first year was difficult because my focus was so scattered, I found this year was more difficult because I lost the enthusiasm that came with the first year excitement----excitement which helped me plug along until the end of the challenge. Year 3 was a success in the sense that I completed the challenge, though, this was the year that almost wasn't---- Somewhere about a third of the way through the challenge, I seriously considered...

Bitter Honey

Weaving dreams of beguiling gold, a future's price for happiness. What secrets do you, determined, hold? asks the summer wind's soft caress. A guarded name, a hidden hope. Spinning wheels clutching time, grasping straw that falls away, What dreams may come, we soon may find, won't recall at end of day. A cherished life, a memory lost.

A million lives, beneath a single sky.....

Though our feet leave different prints,our tongues sound different words, there's a mirrored rhythm in the beating of our hearts. Though born in different worlds, our eyes sharpened 'neath different moons, there's an unspoken truth in the warmth of our touch. We may walk in different strides and dream different dreams, we may speak in different voices, maybe swim in different streams. It's plain to see, when dark night falls, as all the stars shine through, that underneath it all, there's no difference 'tween me and you.

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

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