Book, Book, and More Books

I'm having a lazy Sunday, in part because I've had a few nights of horrible sleep and I'm exhausted. This afternoon, I gathered up a stack of books that were taking up space under the bed, in my car, etc., and I went to Half-Price Books. Actually, most of the books I was taking to sell had been purchased there. We're talking fantastic titles like Ivy League Stripper and Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. (These are what I'd like to call "impulse buys".) I took the price tags off of a few of the books. One had been $7.98, another was $6.95. And since I had about 10 books, I was thinking Sweet, I can get a few new books for the plane. (I'm going on vacation soon, and long flights require good reads.)

I've never sold any books to a bookstore, unless the college experience counts. You know, where you buy a book for $250, use it for one semester, and then attempt to sell it back only to hear that a new edition just came out and that they'll give you a whole $2.50 for it. Awesome.

I digress. . .

So I walk into the bookstore, stack of books in hand, and go up to the buy-back counter. There was an employee standing there, with his back to me. Typically, the employees are behind the counter. But whatever. I finally put the books on the floor, as holding them was less than thrilling. As soon as I did that, he turned to me and mumbled something. Quite honestly, I wasn't even positive that he was speaking to me. I did the "huh?" head tilt, and said, "Excuse me?" He said, only a little more clearly, "Driver's license." I was thinking to myself, why yes, the State of Texas has bestowed one of those upon me, thanks for inquiring. Seriously, the guy was FULL OF JOY. He told me to stay in the store, and that was that. I looked at the stack of books on the floor and went, "Um. Okay?"

Here's the thing. . . If you're going to work in customer service, throw on a smile every now and then. Enunciate. You can do it! Maybe you're having a craptastic day. That's alright, we all have those. You could still pretend that you don't hate me. It might hurt for a second, but I promise the sting will fade.

By the way, for those 10 books, I got a whopping $5.00. I kid you not. Half-Price Books is making a killing. And if you're wondering what I got for my trip-to-NYC-plane-ride, that would be City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare.