Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Regulars The Other Side

With all my work rants and Books are Beautiful post. Some of you may be asking HappyNappy why are earth are you working at a bookstore? I will admit my tolerance for customer B.S is very low but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the good ones. There are still a lot of really good customers , those are the ones who help me keep my retail sanity. I've been working at the same bookstore over 5 yrs so I have a few regular customers. I am lucky enough to have nice regulars that I am always happy to see. The other day one of my regulars came in to buy books for her 13yr old granddaugther. She told me her granddaughter always enjoys the books. She left with Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac -Gabrielle Zevin I think its pretty cool when grandparents are willing to get newer titles for her grandkids. Some only want to buy Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys.
Yesterday one of my regular families came in, a mother ,her daughter who is in high school and her son who is in middle school. The daughter reads alot. I have to make sure I am up on whats new so I can have some recommendations ready. The boy gets books as well but yesterday was the first time he ever came back excited about a book. He loved Hunger Games its his new favorite book. His mother told me he wrote up a review about it for school and lent his copy to a friend.
The regulars always make my day better. When I can I spend a little more time with them because I am fostering a relationship, so we will be their bookstore of choice. When I don't have as much time as I would like the regulars always understand.
I like when a parent comes back and says their son or daughter loved the book I recommended. Or my child never liked reading before. I always try to match up a child with the right book. So the feedback makes me feel good. Though I will continue with an occasional rant and more Books are Beautiful I just wanted everyone to know there is another side.

2 comments:

teacherninja said...

I agree. The good customers and the books kept me working in bookstores for over five years. The third thing was the staff. Not everyone, mind you, but some booksellers are just awesome and I made some of my best friends that way. Heck, I met my wife that way! (but she hated working there)

Doret said...

Yeah working at a bookstore is not as glamorous as some would make you believe but good customers and co workers make it much nicer