A Day in the Life of a Bookshop Help

IT is Monday and, as must be sometimes the case, I was not in an awake frame of mind even when I got up, and once at the bookshop submerged myself in news, blogs and blogging as customary. The paradoxical question of how to look and be forthcoming to customers when sitting at the computer remains unsolved;

Photo credit: Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive)
via Wikimedia Commons


sometimes I go around behind the table and leaf in whichever book or calendar or whatever is lying there, and sometimes it's fine because a customer wants to order something and then I'm immediately ready, etc.

The book display in the main window was only a little changed from Friday's, so it didn't take long to familiarize myself with that — it is embarrassing if a customer asks for a book in the window and I have to ask, "Where is it precisely?" — and the table was not changed; and a glimpse at the shelf where we keep the ordered books until they are picked up showed that there didn't seem to be a new one.

One of the books we have in our window now is from the Harry Potter series; we waited and waited for the lady who ordered the tome to fetch it, but she didn't, and so it is up for general sale.

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SO, a bookseller's rule of thumb: it is not necessary to order a book if you don't want it. From my perspective, procrastination is fine as long as you pick it up eventually and we both know that you will. A slightly similar situation that is evil, however: once a customer ordered the wrong book, one that was not returnable; for a tiny shop to be saddled with the cost of a book which we did not request is mean. But it was a mistake and the second book was bought, so it could have been more evil.

Second rule of thumb: It's worthwhile to do the internet research about the books you would like to order beforehand; I like looking up books, and if the customer looks over my shoulder and checks everything to his or her own satisfaction so much the better, but it can become longwinded and complex particularly for authors with common names or whose spelling you don't know or who have written a ton of books. In a hurry, a simple ISBN or a scrap of paper where the author and title are correctly written down will help.

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OTHER than that there was one person who came in and one phone call from a publishing company about sending a sales representative to us; I gave the publisher the bookshop's email address so that my mother could handle it.

Besides we have a little table and two chairs set outside for reading, their legs tangled up in wire and a padlock so that no one filches them; I had to rescue the newspaper clipping and three books on the table repeatedly as the glass of lilies of the valley blew over in the fresh breeze and splattered water on them. One time a cyclist, one of the many people who passed on the sidewalk today, brought it to my attention.

Then my mother came back sometime before 3 p.m. and the bookshop passed, once more, into her keeping.