I'm just standing there in a bit of shock, and Larry comes back to find me. I show him the book and start to tell him my opinion on readers who take their cappucinos, chocolate-chip cookies and a clean new book back to the comfy chairs to read and don't bother to clean their hands while doing it. As I'm launching into my tempest in a teapot tirade, a guy grabs a trade paperback off the shelf, sits down with his coffee and starts reading in the chair, and bends the cover all the way back so that only one page is showing. You know darn well that when his coffee's finished, he's going to stick that book back on the shelf, now with a creased spine.Oh, the horror of it all.
So please people, if you're going to spend a quiet Saturday morning at the bookstore, taking care of your coffee fix and test driving a novel, please be clean about it. And for Pete's sake, please try to think of other people who may actually want to BUY the book you've just bent back or because you forgot to take a napkin with your cookie, you've left chocolate fingerprints on. If I wanted a used book, I'd have gone to a bookstore where I know the books have already been read, and even then, I wouldn't pick up the food-stained ones.
hear ye, hear ye! I hope there is a sign somewhere in B&N to get these ppl to be more responsible!
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice one, but then again I didn't look for one either.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked with the public for most of my life, I've always thought that food and drink should not be sold anywhere near books. Nor should there be loads of comfy sitting places. Perhaps that's the buried merchant in me screaming to get out, but too many people never ever need the excuse to treat a place of business as their own home. They just do it, and the words "responsibility" or "consequences" never even cross their minds. Could be I'm just too grumpy today!
ReplyDeleteWell, you might be grumpy, but I was even grumpier about it yesterday. Sheesh. At $26.00 for that particular book that I seriously doubt anyone will buy now, you'd think someone at the store would care.
ReplyDeleteI will admit, I'm a bit of a book snob. If my book is going to be damaged in any way, I want to be well prepared for it. I honestly think, had I experienced what you did, that I would have dropped the book and possibly shrieked!
ReplyDeleteCrystal: I think I was too utterly amazed to shriek -- more in a state of disbelief.
ReplyDeleteMy supervisor at work admits to wandering into B&N, sitting down, reading an entire book, and returning it to the shelf. It might take a few visits to finish it, but she does it. I don't know if food is involved, but either way, if you want free books, isn't that what the library is for? I know that's not exactly related to this post, but you made me think about it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they figure in the lost costs into the merchandising plan? It's kind of crazy to put books next to coffee anywhere. They say the longer a consumer is in a store the more likely they are to buy, but I see way too much abuse at our B&N....some people settle in for the day, spreading the aisles with their belongings. I get so annoyed.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that too! I've actually had to step over stuff in rounding the corner from one aisle to another. I never say anything, though.
ReplyDelete