Today at Logos

I did something today I've never done before...and you'll read about it later in this entry.  But first, I loved the arrangement of gladiolas that Susan had on the front table this morning.  You don't see glads all that often and these were lovely.

Sandy and I had our normal 20 minute visit while she was packing up and I was ready to take over for her.  She had a moderate morning, with an hour or so where she had no customers whatsoever.

But we were comparing lives again and I discovered that her brother, younger than she, was killed on his honeymoon, so I told her about Karen and we talked about kids and dying too young.

It was cool that she remembered Lawsuit and knew how popular the band was, but she didn't know Paul was dead.

There was only one customer in the shop when she left, a young Korean girl who was beaming all the time as she went through the book shelves.  She ended up buying six books by authors such as Mark Twain, G.K.Chesterton, etc.  All categorized as Literature rather than Contemporary Fiction (Peter is very clear about the difference!)

I looked up and saw a woman in red on one side of the bookcases, looking at travel books, and a woman in purple on the other side looking at the foreign language books.  The contrast was striking, but I didn't think about taking a picture until Purple had moved...and I realized they were together.

Mother and her adorable daughter came in and Mom made the girl ask me what she wanted.  She said, haltingly, "Do. you. have. books. of. children?"  I thought I detected a hint of a French accent.  I showed her where the kids books were.  She looked through them for awhile, then came out and tried to tell me something, which her mother translated in a definite French accent as that they would be back later.  The girl turned around and said "Thank You."  She was so cute and obviously her mother is doing a wonderful job training her to be polite!

Red and Purple were now ready to check out and we discussed the new bag policy that we are starting on July 1.  There was a sign which talked about it.

This is a new city-wide policy and there was an article about it in the paper the other day which lists the exceptions to the rules, which were so complicated, I gave up reading.  I'll bring my reusable bags, I'll pay if I have to pay, and I'll charge for people who want bags at Logos. This is a policy I first saw in Monterey a year or so ago.  Good ecological policy.  Will take some getting used to.  The problem for small businesses like Logos is that they have purchased biodegradable bags, which cost the store 60 cents apiece and they are only charging 25 cents (some stores are charging 10 cents).  I don't have a clue how it's going to cut into the profits of the store. Most people don't ask for bags.

Next came a young girl looking like the cookie cutter starlets you see everywhere today.  Shoulder length brown hair, dressed all in black with a huge brown shoulder bag, a pretty, if undistinguished looking face.  It surprised me that she was looking for Kafka's "Metamorphosis." I must stop making snap judgements about people based on their appearance!

A few people came and went without buying anything, then a tall bearded man bought a book of short stories and needed a bathroom.  Our bathroom isn't suitable for customers, so I sent him across the street, but when he left he turned in the opposite direction.

Next came a Peter Ustinoff doppelganger with a thin woman with mousy brown hair.  She was probably on the low end of middle age, but she had the leathery, weathered skin of someone who spends a lot of time outdoors. He bought four bargain books and a self help, touchy-feely book.

I saw that I had missed a call from Walt, since I now turn my cell phone ringer off when I am at work.  I called him back and he was in the car on the way to the opera in San Francisco.  He had called to find out if I wanted him to bring my cane, but it was too late now.

A bubbly middle aged woman who just LOVES Logos  bought a bargain book and asked if I read thrillers or "more sophisticated" books.   I assured her, as I looked at her James Patterson book, that I definitely preferred thrillers.  I was, in fact, reading another book by Ruth Rendell.  This is the third of hers that I have pulled off the shelf in the past few weeks.  Last week there weren't any of her books short enough to read in a day, but this was just the right size.

There was a lot of activity outside at the bargain tables and then they all started coming in.  I think they all bought some books from outside and some from inside, which is why we have bargain tables!  I offered one woman a bookmark but after thinking about it she decided she wouldn't take one because she felt that it needed to go to a "broader audience" than she could give it!

Someone commented on it being hot in the store, so I closed the front door and turned on the a/c.  I don't notice the heat any more  since I have that wonderful fan sitting on the desk.

We briefly had a mashup at the mystery section, with four different people all looking at the books.

A woman bought "Letters of a Portuguese Nun," the title of which sounded so interesting I decided to check it out on Amazon when I got home.

The bookmark lady came back for "round 2," as she called it, this time buying several fiction books and a Spanish dictionary.  After she left, I went to continue reading my Ruth Rendell book and couldn't find it anywhere.  I finally decided I either gave it to her with her stack of books, or I charged her for it.   In any event, she now has it (and I ordered it for my Kindle so I could finish reading it!)  I felt pretty dumb.

A mom with a toddler and a daughter who might have been around 8 or 9 came in.   The toddler had hair as curly as Lacie, but darker, and was wearing the cutest navy blue Oshkosh pants, but she wasn't cute whenever she had a tantrum, which was whenever Mom tried to take her book from her so I could ring it up.  I thought of the contrast between her and the French girl earlier.

My friend showed up at 4:30 and bought a book on Wild Bill Hickock and a German novel.  I confessed my book misadventure to him.

My last customer was a young man with lots of tattoos who ought three biographies:   Ann Boleyn, Che Guevarra and Woody Guthry.  Now THAT's diversity!

My friend Pat volunteered to pick me up so I didn't have to take the bus home, and I was so grateful to her.  The dogs were happy to see me and I had a weird dinner and then settled in to finish Ruth Rendell.