"What Kind of Bookstore is This?"

[B&NGoddess]

i was trapped in the black hole known as the kids department helping a customer. another woman walks up to me and asks where the black history month books are. i pointed to a display, but the lady told me that they were all MLK books and didnt we have something else? i passed her off to a coworker and heard the woman ask about some books and authors that i assume had something to do with black history, but considering i had never heard of them, i couldn't tell you for sure. after being told "no", the woman walks away in a huff and starts complaining to her friend. "How could they not have this stuff? what kind of bookstore is this? im not coming here again."

and i couldn't help myself, i let out a "tsk" and an eyeroll directly at her. she just looked at me, stupefied, then went on her way.

[rerant]

I bet the irony is that if she had just shut her yap and been polite the books could have been ordered for her.

[flicksgirl]

Just one question whats MLK?

[Acolyte]

I'm assuming Martin Luther King.

[Broomjockey]

Martin Luther King Jr., more accurately. I would expect that if there's a Black History Month display though, that it would carry more than just books about him, otherwise that seems like a bit of an oversight. Knowing SCs though, I'm betting that they were the most obscure titles ever, with half of them more than 5 years old.

[Neo_Classic]

I don't consider the woman an SC at all. Black people know this all too well. Everytime something is posted about Black History Month we see the same people over and over again. The woman wanted something different, I can't really be mad at her. The major bookstores that I usually go to have at least 3 Black-American sections (Fiction, Non-Fiction and History/Biography).

[Sylvia727]

Her suckiness didn't come from the lack of Black History books, it came from her demand for specific books, and her unwillingness to order the books and wait a week. If you want something out of the ordinary, you have to wait longer than ordinary. God forbid someone actually plan ahead for their own needs That being said, it does suck that the store didn't carry a wide selection of Black History books, but they usually carry what sells, so...

[Flood]

I don't consider the woman an SC at all. Black people know this all too well. Everytime something is posted about Black History Month we see the same people over and over again. The woman wanted something different, I can't really be mad at her. The major bookstores that I usually go to have at least 3 Black-American sections (Fiction, Non-Fiction and History/Biography).

Really? 'Cause I know people that would start riots if they found out that Black Fiction was for whatever reason being kept separate from general Fiction. And why should it be? It's not like Spanish fiction where it's actually written in a different language. Feels too much like old segregationist ideals.

I always figured that the reason the same names keep showing up in Black History displays is because, well, there's only so much History where being Black played a major part in the telling. After a certain point, you start getting books that celebrate African heritage in general, but aren't really about Black American History.

[Neo_Classic]

Her suckiness didn't come from the lack of Black History books, it came from her demand for specific books, and her unwillingness to order the books and wait a week.

Where in the original post does it say that? Why is she sucky because she wanted something specific?

[Broomjockey]

Where in the original post does it say that? Why is she sucky because she wanted something specific?

By walking out angry, instead of asking to order it, that's unwillingness to wait a week. It's the angry storming out that makes it sucky, not the wanting something specific.

[B&NGoddess]

I don't consider the woman an SC at all. Black people know this all too well. Everytime something is posted about Black History Month we see the same people over and over again. The woman wanted something different, I can't really be mad at her. The major bookstores that I usually go to have at least 3 Black-American sections (Fiction, Non-Fiction and History/Biography).

really? as has been said, it wasnt the she wanted something, it was that she was sucky about wanting something. we dont decide what goes in the stores. and we do have a wide selection of african american history books, but they are in the adult sections. she wanted kids books. and just because she wants something else doesnt mean that we damn well better have it, no matter what the topic. personally, i want more stuff on tattooing/tattoos or a better manga selection, but im content with what we've got. beggers cant be choosers.

[BookstoreEscapee]

personally, i want more stuff on tattooing/tattoos ...., but im content with what we've got. beggers cant be choosers.

Heh, that question was the bane of my existence. I know of 2 books in cultural studies, that we usually had in stock, and there used to a bargain book with a lot of great artwork, but we never had it and I don't think it's available anymore.

FTR, B&N has a subcategory of African-American fiction (and further subs of Commercial and Literary) in the computer, but they don't break them out in the store. They just get shelved in Fiction with everything else.

[jedifarfy]

Really? 'Cause I know people that would start riots if they found out that Black Fiction was for whatever reason being kept separate from general Fiction. And why should it be? It's not like Spanish fiction where it's actually written in a different language. Feels too much like old segregationist ideals.

The citizens of my neighborhood would be THRILLED to have a seperate section. That's what they want to read, and we have no way of knowing specific authors unless we took time out of my our off time to make a list. We had a bay for a few days, and our shoppers loved it. They even came back for it after it was taken down. It wasn't done out of secregation, it was done as another subcategory within fiction that our customers want (like horror, which we were vetoed on doing as well).

I have to say anyone, for anything, that demands a book that we don't stock and refuses to order it sucks. You can tell them all day that they won't find it at a nearby store, and they just don't want to hear it.

JF

[worddork]

Overstocks

The first bookstore I worked at was an overstock store (we sold the books that didn't sell at the big stores at a huge discount). We would get SCs who would ask every week if we could order a book for them, even after we told them that we just get pallets of boxes labeled with the genera of the books in them. They just wouldn't take a hint. The calls kept coming, until the day we closed.

[LifeCarnie]

"How could they not have this stuff? what kind of bookstore is this? im not coming here again."

I'm guessing one that somewhat follows the basic rules of supply and demand.

If there's no demand for that book, there is no reason to stock it. Which is apparently rocket science to some people.