Last Day at Logos

Well, here it is--the very last Today at Logos entry.  It was an ordinary day, with nothing really special about it.  My 4+ years at Logos has ended with a whimper, not a bang.  I was sorry that Bruce didn't come in and I haven't seen the train guy in awhile either, but my friend came to say goodbye.

I had a nice note from Susan, who always writes to us after each of our shifts to thank us and let us know how much we made.  My note said, "Bev, you've been with us since the beginning of our volunteer search, and Thursday afternoon in your slot!  I know a lot of regulars who are going to miss seeing you there."

Vojka was working in the morning and was talking to a guy named David, who is going to be doing my slot when Logos re-opens as Friends of the Public Library.

First thing that happened was that Susan called to let me know that her new grandson, Gabriel Peter, had just been born (in New Jersey), after 19 hours of labor.  Congratulations to the new grandparents (Susan and Oeter's first).  Ashley will like his name, since it's the name of her son too.

The first customer, who came to the desk as I was congratulating Susan, was a guy who bought 3 coffee talble books all, about Florence (one was on the Uffizi gallery).

David, who had left wth Vojka, returned to buy a book on music (I think was something about how jazz shaped American music).

That morning I had been inspired by my e-mail friend Claire, who makes pictures of a doll doing various fun things to send to a little boy she knows.  I found a teddy bear in the house and decided his name was Benny and that I would take him on adventures to send to the girls.  Today he went to Logos and found a book to read about his cousin Paddington.

I'm looking forward to finding various things for Benny to do to entertain Brianna and Lacie.

A guy came in wanting to know about volunteering.  I didn't have any information about what the Friends were going to do, so I had him leave his contact information.

A middle aged woman looked around for awhile and then said how happy she was that the Friends would be taking over because she loves the store.

A girl came in who had just discovered the store the day before and loves it. She said she thought Logos was the ideal of a small book store. She bought a copy of "David Copperfield" and as she left, she was saying "Look at me! I bought a book!"

A guy I didn't really recognize bought four bargain books and said he was really sorry to see me leave, but hopes that the Friends make a success of the store.

A guy bought a tiny Berlitz Spanish travel dictionary and a big coffee table book with photos from sites around the world.  He found a bonus--a bookmark from the Getty museum--inside.

A guy wearing a UCD cross-country shirt, a sweat band around his head, black-rimmed glasses, and ear phones (not ear buds--these puppies were huge) came in looking for books by French philosopher Jacques Derrida.  He didn't find Derrida, but bought 2 books on philosophy and a copy of the Quran.  He had chosen four other literature books, but put them back, when he added up the price.

Peter's friend Tom came in with another book for Peter and took back three books he had donated awhile ago.  He never pays for anything.  Susan says he uses Logos as his personal lending library.  Such a nice friendly man.

A dark guy with very dark eyes was looking for books on woodworking.  He found one on box making and said he bought it for a shop on campus.

My friend (whose name is Willard) came in at 4:15.  The time had flown by since 2 and I was surprised it was that late already (I was engrossed in "Judy and Me" by Sid Luft, Judy Garland's former husband, which I had received the day before).  Willard bought 2 bargain books and a book on Japanese history and one other history.  We said our goodbyes and, as he was carrying a copy of this week's Sacramento News and Review, I showed him my review and he said he would start checking the paper for my reviews.  I will miss seeing him each week.

A guy came in with a bargain book by Vince Flynn.  I told him how much I enjoyed his books and he said he had just read one of his books and enjoyed it.  He was sad to learn that Flynn died a few years ago, which means no more Vince Flynn books!

A very large, round guy came in to ask about the book store changes.  He was carrying a blg slurpy sized drink in a massive hand.  He did look around a bit, but didn't buy anything.

Three women came in together.  They were a vision in knit.  One had a chartreuse tam-o-shanter and matching chartreuse sneakers.  One had a wine colored mult-layer scarf around her neck.  The guy who was with them, bought a Jack London book.

The man I have thought of as "Physics Guy" because he seems to come in each week to buy a book on physics was my last customer.  He bought 2 bargain books and 2 books on thermodynamics.  I mentioned that I had typed "Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics" three times, in the days pre-computer.  He was not impressed, or even interested.

And then Susan was there with photos of newborn Gabriel Peter.  A hug, a goodbye and then my days at Logos are over.