It's cool and rainy outside and I am really enjoying having the sliding glass door open. I love the sound and feel of it.

Work has been crazy lately with the back to school stuff; not as crazy as Bed Bath and Beyond, mind you (I posted earlier about the chaos I saw from the sidewalk - eep) but we have had our share of the fun.

One girl told me that one of her classmates had told her that we could sell her a textbook for her class. I managed to convince her that knowing the title would make it more likely.

There are still folks coming in for their summer reading. My favorite was the mother who came in for a copy of Lord of the Flies. She was not pleased when she learned that we had sold out of the paperback and only had the hardcover in stock. Her displeasure wasn't aimed at the store, but at the son who had already lost three of the paperbacks. He'll either be paying for the hardcover or going without.

Some of the teachers have been fun, as well. There are, of course, the smart ones who actually planned ahead and they have really been helping things go smoothly (at least as smoothly as things can go when teenagers are involved). Then there are the teachers who drive us up the wall. I know none of the latter read this journal, but I will still try to keep identities quiet. ;)

One teacher thought to have us order enough copies of his required text to the store that all the kids would be able to pick them up, and he even got the least expensive edition. The problem? He is requiring three titles, and the other titles are not in stock and the parents are blaming us. *sigh*

Then there was the teacher who told her students that she had checked, and that we had the book they needed at the store. The only thing is, the teacher checked the website, which does not have anything to do with what is in the store. Again, we get angry parents. There aren't many students in that class, thank heavens.

And then there is the class that is driving pretty much the entire staff to drink heavily. This one is on a scale with the NYT adventure.

This is a class that is being run by both a high school and the local community college. There are two books required. One of them has been backordered at the warehouses (meaning it will take a while to come in - much longer than anyone wants to wait). The other book has a number of editions and there is no way to know which one the students are supposed to get. The class materials don't say which one to get - they only say that the students can get the books from us.

It gets better.

We booksellers were ordering them both (guessing on which edition for the second title) and telling worried parents and students that the entire class is in the same boat and that they wouldn't get into trouble for not having the books immediately. Slowly, they were coming in and people were picking them up.

Sunday (already a bad day thanks to the NYT) saw several more parents and students coming in to place orders. There were also a couple of people coming in to return books that they had already purchased. Why?

Because the books had been handed out in class.

You can imagine the reaction of the booksellers.

Mind you, not all of the students had gotten them in class, and we were at least as confused as they were.

We still don't know exactly what is going on. Some students are still trying to get the books, others are returning them, others have been told that they will get copies in the near future from the instructor, others have been told that they won't get them in class, others have been told to go to the bookstore at the community college to get the books, and still others are still being told to come to us.

Dear readers who are also teachers, I beg of you, don't ever do that to your students or neighborhood booksellers.

One other bit of news - there is a community dedicated to the Maryland Renaissance Faire. All who are interested should check out mdrf.