Thursday, September 4, 2008

Shopping? No, I'm Just Here For The Recommendations.


We've been noticing a new trend in our store. Folks are gathering around our Staff Picks table, taking pictures of the books we've recommended.
At first we thought, wow -- we must have some photogenic books! But then we saw someone take a picture of Shantaram (Inkwell Michelle's pick), and that has a pretty clichéd cover, so we knew that something else was afoot.
The next time we saw somebody camera-clicking the Staff Picks, we ran over, blocking their shot and asking if they were terrorists.
No, they told us, they were not. They were just taking a picture to remind them to look up the book later online.
WTF?!
After Sean Penn-ing the camera out of their hands, we asked them to elaborate. Were they cross-checking our recommendations with other reviews or...
Then they got that look on their face. If you work in a brick and mortar bookstore, you know the look. The look that says, 'I'm buying it on Amazon.' Yeah, that look.
Picking up the pieces of their phone from off of the floor, we said, 'Thank you, come again,' but really we were thinking, 'I hope your carpal tunnel syndrome is fatal.'