My Trip To The Bookstore

Yesterday I was armed with birthday money and headed off on one of my favorite excursions: The Barnes & Noble trip. As the wife was out celebrating a friend's birthday last night, I took the girls.

Things were not going well early on in the trip. See, I had an idea of what I wanted to purchase, but I also wanted to be open minded about letting a good book find me.

I immediately found Book I Wanted #1, but couldn't find Book I Wanted #2. I was a bit perturbed by the cost of book #1 as it was the retail price on the bar code. For some reason, it makes me happier when something screams that it's now 10% off.

I couldn't find Book I Wanted #2 on the shelves and asked the information desk guy if they had it. His computer said they had 3. He went to the shelves with me and I think he was planning on doing some sort of "Condescending You Just Didn't Look Hard Enough" dance because he walked with such confidence over to the fiction section. To his credit, he looked in the stockroom, too...but no book. He muttered something about the computer rarely being wrong. Clearly, Book I Wanted #2 was winning the game of hide-and-seek (or fool-the-computer).

I found Book I Wanted #3, a guitar instruction book to get me to the next level, but someone had pilfered the CD that comes with it. There were no other copies. Information Desk Guy's Computer said so.

CD I Wanted #1 was in stock, and plenty of them, but I'd seen it the night before at Target and it was priced $5 less. That's screaming "25% OFF!" right there. No sale. Now, knowing that I'm going to a competitor's bookstore across the street because my daughter has a gift card from that store, I put back Book I Wanted #1 because everybody will have it and maybe, just maybe it'll have a sale sticker on it at the other store.

Meanwhile, my daughters have scattered throughout the store, so I'm trying to wrangle them. As I put back Book I Wanted #1 I grunted like Marge Simpson. This was supposed to be enjoyable. I've got DRIZZLE outside, and time to read and now this plan isn't coming together at all.

I summon the oldest daughter to find youngest daughter. While waiting I mosey over to the "Staff Recommends" shelf just for kicks. There's Book I Wanted #2, all three copies! Plus a 10% Off Sticker! The middle copy (the one I figured no one had pawed over yet) is now "It" but I congratulated them on a good game of hide-and-seek. This spurs a reconnection with Book I Wanted #1, and the purchase is made. I notified the guys at the help desk where Book I Wanted #2 was now located and did my own little Condescending In-Your-Face Dance in my brain under the guise of being helpful.

I found Book I Wanted #3 with the all-important CD still intact at the competitor's bookstore. Kelsey made her purchase. Shelby, even with money in hand, got nothing.

We stopped on the way home to eat Chinese food, buffet-style. And I now need to run to Target to complete the birthday shopping.

I read until I fell asleep. Very nice, even though no books found me yesterday.