Book-a-Rama

So, LAST Saturday the 7th, I hit one of the biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Scholastic customer appreciation sales, like, from the big publisher of children's books. I went with Jen.

Actually, I'd called her earlier in the week, like Thursday, or something, and hadn't heard back from her (no fault of hers, I think), so I had actually gotten up to go to the sale (after clearing my car out of heavyish stuff since the sale was a bit far away) and was THERE when I got a call from her!

She ended up meeting me there with her two kids, and that was fine, since I love to see them.

I just remember that this scene was CRAZY. I left the house a little later than I wanted, I wanted to get there about 10 minutes early. Usually on the first day, especially first thing, the lines are pretty long. It started at 9, and I got there at 9:05, there were cars parked on both sides of the street already, and I went ahead and parked in a close spot that had a Reserved sign. Pretty sure that's only for when they are working during the week, and I didn't care too much.

So the line was about 30 people deep, with people streaming in from off the street the entire time, and honestly, I've never had to wait that line, it was moving at a pretty fast clip. Till I realized that I forgot my "Fast Cart" pass - some lil doohickey I can print out to skip the computer check-in process. Well, I've been to so many of these that the check-in thing doesn't take me more than literally 30 seconds, so I decide to just go ahead and do that.

And then I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

I swear, like, nearly 15 minutes goes by?? I have no idea what is going on. There's a bank of 3 computers, and seriously, all 3 people up there are taking FOREVER. The line just gets all jammed up with 2 people waiting for each computer, and then all of a sudden, the chick over at the furthest left computer does something and accidentally logs out of the check-in system so nobody can use it anymore. The two women in front of me decide to go and investigate, and they are feeling all fretty, judging by their conversations and repeated assertions that they "should've checked email again" and la di di. I tell them that I've NEVER had to wait THIS long in the FIVE years I've been coming to these sales ... and the one chick goes over because she's starting to get all impatient and stuff. And when she goes to get back in line, she tries to step in front of this other lady, who inches over and doesn't let her, and there's this like, silent confrontration, and the lady who left the line starts with the whole "ExCUSE me ..." when the other lady in line says, "I was here ..." and "Excuuuuuuse me" lady says "Oh! Were you already in line? Oh, I'm so SORRY!!" and tries to laugh it off and pat the other lady on the arm all friendly-like.

I might be shallow, but I admit I took a bit of a dislike to this Miss Bleached-Blonde Smarmy fakey chick.

Man, I'm so judgmental!

So, the OTHER two people on the OTHER two computers are ALSO having major problems and I'm feeling like I've stepped into a village completely populated by inept DUMBASSES, and I decide to take off.

I storm for the entrance, and the woman in charge asks me if I have my fastcart pass, and I tell her that I'd already signed up online (which I had), but I didn't get a chance to print it out, and asked if I really needed it to get inside. She told me it wasn't necessary unless I wanted that $10-off-$50 purchase coupon, and I said I didn't need it, so I got to go in!

Yay! Joy from the circumvention of FOLLOWING THE CATTLE CROWD.

So that was the first mini-victory. Then I get inside, go around a few of the aisles, and finally find the $1 section where they are opening up boxes and still labeling value-packs of 2 shrink-wrapped books for $1. I dig around, find a few odds and ends, nothing overly exciting, then I see a big crowd form and apparently they have found packs of these little hardcover non-fiction books with the clear overlays and stuff. These books usually sell for $12.99 EACH, and they had the 2-packs for $1 each. This stuff is usually Scholastic Book Fair overstock, and stuff returned from schools.

So, this stuff turns out to be a bit hit, and I swear, there was this one woman who parked herself in front of the people marking the books and proceeded to HOG everything they were digging out - hardcover picture books, all of the clear overlay flip books, and nobody else is getting a chance at those. Partly it should also have been the people marking and handing out the stuff to disperse it evenly ... I was just sad that when I'd first asked if they were going to open up any more boxes, the woman there at the time said she had noooooooo idea, she was just a volunteer who was supposed to mark the books $1.

Anyway, that sort of environment is so not my style and I had just about enough of that annoying obnoxious rudeness, so at that point I wandered away and then Jen came and I met up with her and browsed some more.

I did head back to that area later, and got a couple picture book sets, but that was all.

And the point to this story??? When I was making one last round, I actually found an entire STACK of these little hardcover books that someone had just dumped on a random shelf - and they weren't marked. Since I knew they had been marking them there, I grabbed the ones I wanted, separated those, and brought them over so they could slap the sticker on.

HA HA FRICKIN' HA! I hate it when people are all greedy and rude, and I felt vindicated that I was able to get some after all.

I did feel bad, though, because I recognized a lady that I'd spoken to before at one of these sales - she seriously has like, 7 or 8 kids, and homeschools, and all that jazz, so we chatted for a bit - last time I remember she was nursing a kid with one arm while digging through the big ole boxes of cheap books. Heh. AND I think she was pregnant then with the one she was holding in her arms that day!!! She said she got smart this time and left the other kids at home with her husband. He was a nice husband, too, from what I remembered last time, corralling the kids all patiently and stuff and reading to them.

Anyway, I didn't end up discarding any of those books at the end so I didn't have any to give to her :(. I gave a couple other books away, books I already had but had picked up randomly in case Jennifer or someone else wanted them ...

The most outrightly RUDE experience was when we were walking to the line to check out, and I saw a cart of books that had been discarded and were probably going to be reshelved - I looked at the top one, and then saw one that I TOTALLY knew and loved and wanted at the bottom, and reached for it at the same time as this other chick did, so then I stopped myself, BECAUSE I WAS NOT FREAKING RAISED TO BE A RUDE, SNATCHING, IMPOLITE BITCH, and this other young, also Asian, chick, snatches it up. All I said was, "Oh, that's a good one ..." and she goes ... "Yeah, it is!" and walks off with it.

I swear, next time something like that happens, I WILL DO SOMETHING. And it will not be beyond me to snatch it right out of her filthy paws.

I'm so aggressive now!

But I'm starting not to care as I get older. You know that Kathy Bates character in Fried Green Tomatoes, or whatever it is? "Yeah, but I have more insurance"?? It's like that. What do I have to lose? I don't think I'm going to see that person again. Heh. And they have a lesson to learn! And I volunteer to teach it!

I just feel very sad and disappointed in people when they act like that. Honestly? There is enough to go around. People don't need to act like that, especially over children's books in America.

If this other gargoyle had the proper upbringing to see me reaching for it, and stop herself also, I probably would have asked her if she already had a copy or not, and if she didn't, just go ahead and let her have it.

Because, I admit, I already had a copy of that book in my cart. But I wanted another one! Because it's always a hit in the classroom and the books in the library get all chewed up.

Grrrrrrrrrr. What an ugly, ugly encounter.

I called her a stupid biznatch and other choice epithets in my head, and quite possibly muttered a few other choice words after her, and next time something like that happens I FER SHUR will go and have a confrontation, because it is going to BE AWWN, and then I decided to just get over it 10 minutes after that. And 10 minutes after that, I found another discarded copy of that book, so haha. Sucks to be a low-class guttersnipe. I mean her.

:(

This is the book, btw:

We ended up getting into line - the LONGEST LINE I HAVE EVER SEEN there, or just about anywhere, except like, Disneyland, and it took an hour and a half to stand through line. Yeesh. I talked a nice lady ahead of us, recommended a few books, chatted with her a bit, envied her the hardcover picture books she got after I told her about the $1 section, and then we went to lunch. And it was fun.

I think I hit TJMaxx after that, too.

Heh.