I love working in a bookstore…being surrounded by the diversity of books is sweet…but I also love the diversity of the people, in the bookstore, whom I meet.
People from all across the world walk in through our front door just to browse…to say hello…or to buy a book while in our store.
Most people know the book they’re looking for…its title and the author too…today’s poem deals with the 1% who haven’t got a clue.
And although my job is fun…it’s not always as easy as it seems…like when people come up with questions that are off the wall or quite extreme.
Here are a few examples…this first one…well there’s really no easy way to spin it…when a lady said, “I’m looking for a book. I can’t remember the title…but I think someone was murdered in it,”
“I remember reading a book when I was younger…I’d like to buy a copy today from you…I can’t remember the title or the author…but I’m pretty sure the book was blue.”
“I’m looking for a book to buy my wife.”
“What does she like?”
“Well now…let me think…I’m really not sure what she likes to read…but her favorite color’s pink.”
“The last time I was in your store I saw this book…I just loved the way the publisher designed it…It’s green and has pretty writing on the cover…can you help me find it?”
"My favorite author is Jane Austen…with other authors she can’t compare…could you point me in the direction of my favorite book…I’d like a copy of Jane Eyre.”
One woman walked up to the counter…she was older…her hair was gray,
“How much,” she asked, “would a signed copy of the Bible be worth today?”
I was unsure of the look in the young man’s eyes when he asked a question I found quite absurd…”Excuse me, sir, do you have a book on how to kill a mockingbird?”
And after spending an hour browsing everything from James Patterson to Shakespeare…a woman walked up to me and asked, “Do you sell books in here?”
So I try my best to smile and help them find their books in colors green and pink and blue…even when the only information is someone is murdered in them too.
Or when I say: “Ma’am I’m not sure Jesus signed any bibles but if he did they’d be worth a lot…I swear…Or when I politely inform another lady it was Charlotte Bronte who wrote Jane Eyre.
“It’s not a book on how to kill a mockingbird…to the young man I tried to make that clear…and to the woman who asked the question…why yes we do sell books in here.
Yes, it’s easy helping people in the store who already know the title and author too…but it is an entertaining journey of discovery helping those who haven’t got a clue.
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