Monday, May 7, 2007

barnes and noble zombies

When did the concept of store get confused with library or living room? Walk into any Barnes and Noble and you are accosted by a sea of people curled up in comfy chairs reading books with their shoes off. Sipping coffees and looking smug. And why shouldn't they? They are getting the information contained in the books for free. You see people with 10 books stacked on a table taking notes, what the fuck? That is what a library is for. If I ran one of these places, you would be getting thrown the fuck out. It makes me reminisce back to Center St News in Hyannis where the hapless clerk(a failed 6th grade teacher named Mr.King who had a problem with picking his nose which landed him the nicknames like King the Fling and Fling King, etc) would scream at you if you spent too long looking at BMX ACTION to "buy that or get out, this ain't a library".
What if I want to do something crazy like buy a book and instead of being on the shelf some fucking shithead has it in his lap covered in crumbs from his coffee roll? Barnes and Noble are engaged in commerce otherwise known as exchanging goods or services for money. Are they so desperate for foot traffic that this is an acceptable trade off? Is that the kind of return customer you want? Do public libraries have to start serving lattes to be a cool destination? Has internet shopping turned people into such fucking babies that staggering around in public in your PJs is an acceptable course of action? Show some initiative, get dressed, buy something, and then go the fuck home and read it. That worked for a couple hundred years. And make a pot of coffee while you are at it. Otherwise you'll be one of those shitheads lounging on the comfy chairs there reading the Sunday paper. Do you live in a barracks? Go home.

No comments: