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Jun. 2nd, 2008 12:39 amSo I attempt to buy What Happened this evening. I walk into Borders, but I don't see a display. Hmm. I check their on-site search. It's "likely" on the shelf in Politics and Government.
Nope.
One of the employees sees I'm obviously looking for something, so I just mention the title. He does a deep mental inventory (a 2-second pause) before having a clue of what I'm talking about. He walks me back over to the Borders terminal where he tries to reserve a copy for me. (Little does he know that I have worked many hours using that same interface for the exact same purpose.) He looks and sees that none of the distributors have any copies in stock. I snicker at the program's suggestion: "Try Used".
He checks with someone upstairs. She confirms that all of the Borders in town have sold out; apparently the publisher is trying to get a second printing completed. I mention that I'd heard that the first printing was only for about 65,000 copies and that they'd probably had no idea it was going to command this much demand.
My visit isn't a total loss, however. The clerk apparently is more apt to read the book now that he knows it's the hottest title in town. Also, I get two classics to tide me over: Common Sense, Thomas Paine and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Nope.
One of the employees sees I'm obviously looking for something, so I just mention the title. He does a deep mental inventory (a 2-second pause) before having a clue of what I'm talking about. He walks me back over to the Borders terminal where he tries to reserve a copy for me. (Little does he know that I have worked many hours using that same interface for the exact same purpose.) He looks and sees that none of the distributors have any copies in stock. I snicker at the program's suggestion: "Try Used".
He checks with someone upstairs. She confirms that all of the Borders in town have sold out; apparently the publisher is trying to get a second printing completed. I mention that I'd heard that the first printing was only for about 65,000 copies and that they'd probably had no idea it was going to command this much demand.
My visit isn't a total loss, however. The clerk apparently is more apt to read the book now that he knows it's the hottest title in town. Also, I get two classics to tide me over: Common Sense, Thomas Paine and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.