Bookshops are one of those places where you cannot place any kind of bet on how the day will progress. Anything, and I do mean anything, can happen. It's half the fun of this profession.
Every Sunday when I open the doors of the shop, I know that I can't make any expectations about how the day will go or what will happen. Usually I'm the ringmaster and Luke is my second in command, while Logan and Nierme flirt and talk with customers the whole day long. Sometimes, worn out from their feline duties, they curl up on boxes behind the counter and sleep, or they find a nice warm spot on the desk and steal my pens until I offer a good pet on the head or a scritch behind the ears.
That said, Sundays are absolutely unpredictable in the way that small businesses go. The day can start out slow and pick up and then get slow and pick up, doing a mountain effect all day, or do a complete flat plain of quiet, and sometimes it will be rat-a-tat-tat crazy all day long. Thankfully, today has been one of those days where the unexpected keeps happening, and it's the good kind of unexpected.
From the father and his two young sons who are my first customers of the day to the older couple from out of town who just want a nice place to relax. To the young couple celebrating their anniversary who buy each other gifts before asking Luke and me where a good place to celebrate their dinner would be, to the regulars who come in and chat about books and life in general. There are the college students who drift in seeking out a good book for summer reading now that school is done, and the girl whose interests are all over the shop, and she seems to pick a book from every section.
There are the young families whose kids want to chase the cats, and the girl who wanders in, sees a puppet, squeals, and proceeds to harass her boyfriend with said puppet during their entire visit. There are the regulars who pick out a book or two before settling in at the back table to read. There is the man who brings in a play based upon old Ann Bannon novels and is thrilled when we have the novels in stock. My final customer of the day is a visiting philosopher from Egypt, whose trip to Iowa City brought him back to us in our new location.
My favorite customers are the ones who want to talk about books, any kinds of books, and especially the customers I can connect with. Today, I had one of those rare encounters that reminds me how small the world is, and how fantastic it is being in this business. An older man came in with his friends, and after exploring for a bit, he asked me about an old antique book on the Black Hills of South Dakota. When I pulled the book from the case, he mentioned growing up in the Hills, and I replied that my mother had as well, and her parents and brother still lived there. When he mentioned where his family had lived, I knew the place. We chatted a bit, and while he didn't buy that book he chose a few more that he would take home with him. I was lucky enough to have one of those experiences where (at the risk of sounding cliche), a book becomes something other than paper and glue between boards and cloth.
There are special moments, I feel, that only booksellers can have. Books are one of those things that cross generations, state lines, international borders, and, of course, trade from hand to hand through used bookshops. Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to have that moment where a particular book has that ability to connect two people across generations and state lines. Maybe I'm a book romantic at heart, but books are a lifeline between people. When a friend or a customer can tell me that they remember the first book they ever bought from me, then I know something special has occurred.
Booksellers are a truly privileged people. We connect with people on a level that I'm not sure any other profession has. It can be a tough job, sometimes, because days are never predictable in terms of sales or in terms of traffic, but when a truly fantastic day can be had, then it is always worth it.
I can't ever predict how Sundays will flow, but today was a particularly wonderful day and I felt that I should share it. Just like a good book.
Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.
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