My wife has always wanted me to have a hobby. The only thing in my life that comes close is buying used books.
I am not talking about 1st Editions, signed by the author, brought over on the Mayflower, from John Winthrop’s personal library. I am talking about books that I want to read. And everyone knows that you cannot read a book without a highlighter in your hand.
In Los Angeles, about every other week, I would slip off to a used book store a few miles from church and go through their massive $1-$2 table, looking for treasure. My wife and I would actually go out on dates at the “Every Book $1” store in Burbank.
When you are only paying $1-$2 per book, you can afford to take some chances. So, inevitably, I buy much more than I can read.
Moving to Kansas City has really put a damper on this area of my life. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but brick and mortar used bookstores are rapidly going the way of the dinosaur. It’s probably related to climate change…
A few months ago, I went online to find some used book stores in my area. My search wasn’t really all that productive. But, I did stumble upon a site that listed of all of the major used book sales being sponsored by local libraries throughout the nation. Alas, in a few months, they were going to be selling 150,000 used books just a few miles up the street from our apartment.
Today, that day finally arrived!
I headed straight there after work and arrived at 5:53.
As I approached, I noticed that all of the tables were covered in plastic and people were standing in line as if they are waiting to pay for their books.
“Are you closed?” I asked
“Yes.”
I held our my hands in frustration and helplessness “How is someone supposed to make it here if they have to go to work?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. We are opening in 5 minutes. Are you a ‘Friends’ member?”
“No.”
“Tonight is for ‘Friends’ only.”
I figured out that it was “Friends of the Library.” It cost $20 to join the lines of people like horses at the starting gate.
The clock struck 6:00…
You could almost hear the announcer, “And they’re off!”
People armed with shopping carts, boxes, wheeled suitcases and bags spread out like cockroaches when the light gets turned on. It dawned on me that I hadn’t really prepared very well. All that I brought with me were my eyes to see and my hands and arms to carry away my spoil.
I didn’t realize that this was going to be similar to the California gold rush! You had people taking books out of boxes and putting them on the table as soon as there was any empty space and another room full of people counting and boxing books for those stopping in to empty out their carts.
As I was browsing cover, a curmudgeonly woman hastily and possessively crowded in front of me at an uncomfortably close distance. I think that she was afraid that I get to her prized book before her.
Another man was rapidly lifting up one book after another just far enough to expose the bar code. He had a bar code reader hooked to some type of cell phone with headphones. I could not figure out what he was doing, so…
“Excuse me. What are you doing?”
“This reads the bar code and tells me about the book.”
I didn’t ask what it told him. He wasn’t listening long enough for even a short review so I am guessing that it was telling him what he could sell it for on the Internet. Man was he in a hurry!
I am telling you the truth, the smell of fear was in the air. When I found myself starting to get caught up into, I took a step back and reminded myself that it is not that big of a deal. Goodness! It’s just a book sale!
But, there was definitely something more than the smell of fear in the air. A few of the people need to take a break from the books and get introduced to a bar of soap and hot running water.
One man was RIPE!!! Whew! His “scent” was so strong that I almost went to a different section. Then, I thought, “I wonder if he uses that as his weapon to clear out the competition??? I don’t care how bad he smells. I ain’t moving!”
I ended up buying 20 books for $20! No they werent all for me. Four of them were for my kids!
One of the books was particularly satisfying because I had nearly bought this book on the Internet four different times but I just couldn’t bring myself to press the “Proceed to Checkout” button. The cheapest that I had seen it was $12-15. Today, I paid $1!
Now, I just have to figure out how to buy the time to read all of them.
