Sunday, August 5, 2007

The Glamorous Life of the Bookseller

Several weeks ago I was preparing for a busy, long day at Old Saratoga Books. There was the usual active Summer Saturday's business as well as extended hours to tie in with two art gallery openings on our block. I tidied and dusted, put out some fresh books, got some customer snacks and was looking forward to a nice day when one of my regulars informed me that the toilet wasn't working. I fought my way in to the smelly restroom and had my arms in the tank up to my elbows when another customer came right in with me to inquire about a particular title. I smiled tightly as I washed my hands and closed the door behind me to help her out.

I finished this bit of assistance only to discover that someone else had nipped into the bathroom for another bout of bowel busting, apparently not noticing that the guts of the tank were all asunder and parts of which had been directly lying on the closed lid.

The glamorous life continued yesterday, when after a week of beastly heat and humidity in our climate-uncontrolled shop (it has 14 foot high ceilings, so air conditioning is out) I spent the day fighting about 50 yellow jackets swarming in my front windows. The colony must've sailed through the rip in the screen door which a delightfully loud toddler customer made earlier this week. I found my can of hornet spray had dried up so I fended them off with my flip flop in between customers. Sam the store cat and several store spiders are assisted in this regard.

The glamorous bookshop life; it ain't all beer and skittles.

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