eric's little black star » Bookstore rant about people who read to their kids.

eric on Jun 22nd 2007 at 1:44 pm Book Store,Random Life Stuff

Bookstore rant about people who read to their kids.

Want to know what REALLY pisses me off about the bookstore? It’s when entire families come in, sit down and read for hours on end… and then walk out, hardly saying a word and certainly not buying anything.

Now, I’m perfectly aware that books are a bit pricey sometimes. And if a family in need would want some books, I’d be more than willing to
help out. But it’s always much wealthier people who do this (I was going to say 9 times out of 10, but that would be a lie – it’s 10 out of 10).
I can understand wanting to read a chapter or two to see if you like the book. Or hell, if you’re going to buy the damn thing, feel free to pull up a chair and read it here!

But what kind of a shithead do you have to be to think that it’s somehow okay to come into a store with your two and a half snotty kids and read them stories for an hour, allow them to throw books all around the children’s section and then leave without picking up after yourself or buying a single book? When did this become ok?

I’m going to go a step farther and say that it’s only mostly wealthy people, but it’s 9 times out of 10 Bucknell University professors’ families. Hell, it may be 10 out of 10 on that one too. What the fuck?

They seem to have this messed up sense of entitlement. The library is too far away, so they come here, read five or six books and then go home. Some do it a couple times a week.

And yeah, I should say something. But really, what can be said? How is this to be handled in a professional way?

I’ve only ever thrown one person out of my store. It was some incredibly dirty guy talking about “wetbacks taking our jobs.” That was easy. And fun! “Yeah, sir… get the fuck out of my store.” Go me! But what do I do here? “What?! You’re reading?! GET OUT!” just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

If I were visiting a bookstore, or any store, I couldn’t do this. Especially in an independent store. I have pretty much zero shoplifting here at the store. But this, if you think about it, is just as bad. Shoplifters enter a store, take the product off the shelf and use it at home. These people enter the bookstore, take the product off the shelf and use it here. Yeah, they put it back on the shelf, but often it now looks like a used book and I can’t sell it. My greatest “loss” comes from these motherfuckers, not shoplifters.

So, if you do this, seriously, knock it off. And if you see someone doing this, slap them and run. I’d do it myself, but I’ve got to remain fairly stationary. C’mon! Help me out!

4 responses so far

4 Responses to “Bookstore rant about people who read to their kids.”

Sri Radha says:

June 22, 2007 at 2:56 pm

You should make a bunch of signs with angry faces and put a reading time limit. :o
DJ says:

June 22, 2007 at 3:51 pm

I saw this the other day and this was happening.
Ryan says:

June 23, 2007 at 11:33 pm

It probably comes from the big chains. I know when i worked at Borders in SLC it was all but encouraged because the people would keep buying the overpriced coffee and food while reading. Hell, I saw people who actually kept a bookmark in a copy of the book they were reading. :lol:

Luckily being the puckish character i can be i would always try to move around any bookmarks i found.
Nedra Zeall says:

June 26, 2007 at 12:28 am

I agree with the reading limit. Chuck theri cheapo asses outta there. I am one of those people that takes my daughter and sits and reads for hours but I am also one of those fanatical people that leaves with two shopping bags full of stuff. I can’t help myself. That is why my house is over flowing with books and I have a To Be Read list that is at least for the next two years. God knows I had to start ignoring PaperBackSwap.