burn all the texts

[beautiful_trash]

apparently the other day a nasty lady who was angry with the offer made on her books suggested that we (the employees of the used bookstore at which i work) read a recent editorial in the cap times. dutifully i looked it up. the writer of said editorial felt that the amount of money offered her for her used books--not at our store, but at madison

Comments

[beautiful_trash]

yeah, if i were to respond in an actual editorial, i would want to point out those things too. like, of course we can't pay you $4 for your book if we are going to sell it for $5.98. of course you would make more money if you sold it on your own without a middleman. and my store is not the place to sell very high end, specialized collectibles because the people who come into my store are not looking for anything that high end. we price our collectibles significantly lower than market value because those items are usually sold to dealers, who mark them up and sell them at their specialty stores. and german bibles from the 19th century are beautiful family treasures and excellent examples of fine craftsmanship, but their value is largely sentimental and does not translate well into the marketplace. i try to train my staff to understand these points and explain them to angry customers, but some folks are so convinced that we are "out to get" them that it doesn't make much of a difference.

[beautiful_trash]

yeah, that's the part i always focused on. also, that the printed word can be enslaving. daniel berrigan, the poet/activist she quotes, burned draft cards in protest of the vietnam war. what has always struck me about the poem is the focus on people as opposed to ideals, and the call to action instead of lofty judgement.

[asher63]

Insulting to the integrity of books in general ... oh, puh-LEEEZE.

I am totally on board with your feelings about books. I love books. I adore books. I venerate books. But books are THINGS. Dammit.

I remember a few years ago when the Taliban were destroying the Buddhist statues in Bamiyan. The outpouring of outrage over the destruction of two statues. A terrible crime, sure, but I can't make myself get worked up about vandalism when these thugs are committing rape, torture, and murder against living human beings.

[waffled]

...she brought in three boxes of Daniel Steele paperbacks, didn't she?

[meestashane]

Heh... Joe stopped at my store on Friday and told me about that, in which case I had to look it up right away. I just thought she was bat shit stupid, but it pissed Aeron off. Dan never shows emotion, but he said "Has she ever sold books to us?" Since July, no, to either of our stores.

Ooooh, can I rant here quick too? Look, lady, going to two used bookstores and being upset with how they do things does not give you allowance to piss on the entire business. If that was so, after starting off at McDonald's and Burger King, I would've never gone back to fast food, but thankfully I have (mmmm, Wendy's value menu).