Just a few from my last shift:

One lady called to ask about internet access at the store. I explain the wireless plan and she is very happy that she can bring her laptop and do some surfing. She confirmed the store location, and I thought that was the end of it.

Then she mentioned that our downtown store didn't offer the same service.

It may have something to do with the fact that we don't have a downtown store in this town. All of the bookstores downtown are proudly independent. I can only imagine how the folks at New Dominion would react to the store being called a Barnes & Noble.

Then there was the guy who asked me for a copy of Devil in the White House. It turned out that he meant Devil in the White City (one of our bestsellers). I couldn't fault him for his first guess, however.

Then there were the teenagers who were so amused by the fact that I was such a nerd that I knew what book they were talking about. Yeah, see how helpful this nerdy girl is the next time you come in with a half-remembered title. Bleah.

And why in Hell is our bookstore not ordering Worst Person in the World? I really shouldn't have to order books that are being hyped that much. Besides, I want my own copy and don't want to go through the in-store ordering system for booksellers.

It was a very busy shift. Holiday weekend, forecast for rain, and having the students recently returning for school made for a pretty crazy shift. I do have a five day week coming up next week, which means I get holiday pay. I will have earned it in spades. I look forward to February, the next good break we'll get at the store.

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.

I don't know where they come from sometimes....

One girl asked me in a quiet voice if we had an abridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo. She told me that the book was on her summer reading list, but that she couldn't read the full version. Honey, it's the beginning of June. You have enough time to read the Big Scary Book. Trust me. She was disappointed that the abridged version I found was still pretty hefty. She'll be even more disappointed when she is tested on the full version.

Not long after that, a woman was standing at the desk when I approached. She was on her cellphone and writing on a piec of scrap paper she had taken from a box on the counter. Being the nosy gorl that I am, I peeked and saw that she had written "Of Men and Mice." Being a good little bookseller, I grabbed a copy of Of Mice and Men. She was amused, and told the teenaged child she was talking to that "the nice lady at the bookstore" had listened in and found the book. And that the title had been wrong. When she ended the call, she thanked me and told me that her child had told her that the book was written by "John Steinbuck". That she had been sure was wrong, and the title hadn't looked quite right....

Close to the end of my shift, I had my Bible customer. He told me he was looking for a "regular Bible". Well, we don't carry irregular Bibles so that struck me as a silly thing to ask for. I asked him what translation he was looking for, he first continued insisting that it was a regular Bible he wanted. When it finally dawned on hin that he was not giving me enough information, he told me he wanted a red letter Bible, thinking that must be the translation. Finally, he said King James and I looked on the shelf until I found a KJV Bible with the words of Christ in red. Then he opened the book and complained that there were none of the promised red letters. I told him to try looking in the New Testament, greatly amused that the sort-of pagan was explaining Bibles to this man. That was when he told me that the Bible was a gift for someone (I never would have guessed). I told him to be sure to ask for a gift receipt before he paid.

Bible customers can be interesting. Some some in with a long list of what they need in their copy of the Good Book. Other times I ask "What translation?" and the answer is "English!" NIV it is, then....

And as for the earlier post: yes I was grabbed from behind by an otherwise nice customer. He wanted to tell me he had found his wife (I had asked him earlier if he needed help, and he told me he was just looking for his spouse). I don't understand why people think there is nothing wrong with grabbing a complete stranger. I wonder if he even realized I nearly jumped out of my skin and had a hard time even speaking after he did that.

All that during one day at the information desk.

I am back at the desk tomorrow.