Why are my knees wet?!

So, I walk into kids and see a pile of stuffed animals.  Not that unusual, annoying, but sorta common.  I kneel down in front of them and start putting them back on the shelves they call home.  After I have separated Dora & Diego from the Backyardigans and Wonder Pets, I realize my knees feel wet.  Something has leaked through my pants from the carpet and my knees are wet...hmmm...IT'S URINE!  PEE!  Someone has pissed on the carpet and instead of cleaning it up or telling a bookseller, they covered it up with our stuffed animals...DISGUSTING!

I don't know who did the hiding, hopefully it was a kid who was embarrassed and not an asshole parent, but it is was a kid...WHERE THE EFF WERE HIS/HER PARENTS!?

I tell ya.  FML, F this job.

I had to go home, shower and change.  That should never happen.  I should never encounter human waste.  Puke.

IT HAPPENED!!!

I got the question!  Okay, not the exact question, but someone asked for "Ballet Shoes" on Sunday!  Maybe it was the fact that one of the cable networks was running "You've Got Mail" back to back, but it was pretty neat.  

Customer:  Do you have "Ballet Shoes" and "Dancing Shoes?"

Me:  You mean by Noel Streatfeild?

Customer: Yes.

Me:  Sure, right over here.  (Me in my head:  OH MY GOD!!!  YIPPEEEEE!)

Restoring my faith in bookselling.

I watched "You've Got Mail" last night.  I find that I need to watch it every so often so I don't march into my boss' office and put in my 2 weeks.  It reminds me that kid's books are awesome and that I would never work anywhere else in the store.

Plus, it is sad when the store closes and in the current economical situation, I need a job.  I should just be happy I have a paycheck and deal with obnoxious kids, rude parents, jerk-face bosses and incompetent coworkers. 

I also get some satisfaction from trying to ID the books in the background when they are in the bookstore, Shop Around the Corner & Fox Books.  Plus, I would like to think that I am not as clueless as that guy who doesn't know what the "shoe books" are.  I think I know my section pretty well.

Yesterday, I even helped a woman find a book and all she knew was that it was a novel for kids that won an award and the word "green" was in the title.  It was "Green Glass Sea" by Klages.  It won the Scott O'Dell award.  I didn't even have to use the computer.

Best. Question. Ever.

"Do you have a pooping section in the kid's section?"

Sadly...we do, but we call it "Growing Up"

And the winner is...

The new ALA winners were announced today...I haven't read any of them, but I own "Savvy" by Ingrid Law, which got a Newbery honor.  I often recommend it for the kids that like Harry Potter.

It makes me wonder a little, though.  Do you think Neil Gaiman was awarded the Newbery award just for this new book, or is it more of a lifetime kinda honor.  Has anyone read "The Graveyard Book" and can honestly say it is his best ever?!  Let me know.

Out with the old...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Did anyone see Dick Clark last week?  It was sad, but I was glad he was on.  It will be upsetting if they ever take his name off and just have New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.  I love Ryan, but he has many years to go before he can be Dick Clark.

My new year's resolution was to bring my lunch to work everyday so I didn't have to buy it figuring I would save money and calories...so far I am 0 for 6.  But, since the first week after holiday is nuts with returns and under staffing, I am allowing myself to have a mulligan and plan on bringing lunch from here on out unless it is someone's birthday or I am having some kind of lunch date.  I even have a new orange lunch tote from the bf so my meal will stay cool.

Phew.

Made it through another holiday season.  Can't believe it was my third!  Seems like just yesterday I was fighting with the PDT...oh, wait, it was yesterday. :)

I can't read these picturebooks without tearing up

Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant
Someday by Alison McGhee
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margaret Williams
Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Do you have any? Please share!

Just a Little Nugget from our Cafe' (No, not our Starbucks)

"This cappucino tastes like coffee."

Where's your mom?

Since when is it acceptable for children to make huge messes in a place of business. I honestly want to know the exact moment that retailers lost their backbone. Was it the McDonald's coffee lady? (What, my coffee's hot and could burn my crotch?!) I really am curious. Will it ever go back the other way? Will we be able to state what should be obvious and tell someone their behavior is inappropriate because what they're doing can more accurately be called vandalism or theft? If I went into a clothing store like, the Gap, I wouldn't put on some clothes and wear them around the store all day then take them off, leave them on the floor and let others walk all over them. That would be ridiculous. But replace "put on" with "read", "clothes" with "books", "wear" with "spread", and "take them off" with "not put them away" and you have exactly what happens every single day. UGH!

Why do we allow people to abuse our store and why aren't I allowed to tell someone they are damaging that book past the point of it being saleable without the fear of a higher-up coming down on me?
It isn't okay to break the spine of a book you haven't purchased.
It isn't okay to do the crossword in the NYTimes without buying the paper.
It isn't okay to slobber on a stuffed animal you have no intention of buying.
It isn't okay to take all the stickers out of a book and stick them on all the pages of the book.
It isn't okay to copy all the information on Hawaii, LSAT, how to bake bread, etc. out of the book and leave it strewn all over. Libraries are better equipped for that and you already pay for them through your taxes, so use them.
IT ISN'T OKAY TO LET YOUR KIDS DO ANY OF THE ABOVE, EITHER.
YOU HAD THEM, YOU NEED TO WATCH THEM!
(and I charge $12 an hour to babysit, so unless you wanna chip in on my hourly wage, I am not gonna watch your kid while you go shopping in the mall - yes, people do this. Are you one of them?)