Slowing Down
I love to see mothers and children in a bookstore, gathered, laughing, talking. My favorite store favors them. On almost any day I chose to visit there will be children, with mothers, mostly, but sometimes fathers. There are toys and games. The children play at the feet of mothers who stand, talking with one another. It makes the store feel like a living space, and sometimes I stay to drink a bit of coffee and eat a roll, and maybe to start a book I just bought.
None of this can be found during a purchase of a book from the soulless internet giant. And I will confess to having bought books from this leviathan, seduced by the ease of a click from a chair in my office. But at some point I realized I missed the physical search through the books for an author in question, seeing other books that piqued my interest while I looked for the book I wanted. I missed the casual chat with a clerk, when I couldn’t find something. I missed the families and strangers browsing the stacks, and the smell of the paper and ink.
I guess you can call me old-fashioned because I’m certainly old, but all of the above are things I value, and I wonder if convenience is all it’s cracked up to be. Although, I published and sold my book online, and it was easy to do. So, maybe what I’m suggesting is that it’s good, occasionally, to get out of the house, go and be with people, and shop at a human pace. Even, perhaps, to wait, while the store orders your goods, and you realize that about the only thing you might need right this minute is a good doctor or an EMT.