Moving Right Along

Well, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this blogging thing. Got a few posts under my belt now, and it feels good.

The first night of the Republican Convention has wrapped up and I still say MSNBC has the best coverage. Great guests, even handed reporting and a lively atmosphere makes em great. Keep up the wonderful job folks.

I keep hearing how President Bush is "decisive" and "steady leadership" and "if he says it or believes it, you know he will do it". John Kerry is "wishy washy" and a "flip-flopper". Those things may describe both candidates, and is ultimately up to you to decide which ones you agree with. My question is this: Is being decisive more important than ultimately being right?

I am a manager in retail and I have to make decisions everyday that affect my store, employees and customers. If a situation arises that I need to address, is it better for all involved that I make a decision on the spot and stick by it no matter what? Or should I wait, research the issue and then make a decision based on the information I have? If something involved in the situation changes later on, should I stick by my original decision whether it was right or wrong, or look at the new information and adjust my position? I know what I do at work, but I was wondering what others think on the matter.

Like I have said before, I work in a bookstore. I love my job and get a real level of enjoyment out of helping people find what they need. But every once in a while, a customer comes in that you honestly have to wonder if they are serious or not. I had a lady the other day ask me where the Non-Fiction section was. Hoping to clarify, I said that was a pretty wide topic and if she was looking for anything in particular. She responded no, so I said in the nicest way possible that our Non-Fiction was broken down by particular headings, like History, Science, etc.

So she replied, "Hey, that's a pretty good idea. I'll have to check that out." Then she walked away. I just shrugged and went about my normal business. A little while later, I saw the same lady standing over next to our Fiction wall, so I decided to check up on her to make sure everything was ok. I asked her if she found everything ok or if she needed anymore help.

She responded, "Nope. I found what I was looking for. I love Stephen King. He always has a good take on the events of the world." She was holding the latest King novel in her hand, and I was trying to figure out if she was serious. One of those events in your life when you feel like you are looking down on yourself in that situation waiting to see what you do.

I responded,"Umm...Ok. Stephen King is a good writer and tells some great stories for sure. I thought you were looking for Non-Fiction though?"

And then she said what I knew deep down she was going to. "I was. I found it right here," hoisting her King book up.

I just shook my head and walked away, comforted in the knowledge that this was an American voter. A voter that couldn't figure out that the stuff in Stephen King's books ISN'T REAL!!!! In the words of a famous guy... Good Grief!!!

Then again, we get one of those customers about once a day. After a while, you just get used to them. But sometimes, one just stands out to you. Ding Ding Ding Stephen King lady....you win this time.

Then again, she was quite decisive about her choice. Who am I to argue with that?

Well...It's over

Well, the Olympics finished up today. It was a mixed bag for the Americans, as some favorites didn't do as they were expected, but others stepped up and met the challenge. I guess that's the way it goes.

The biggest news was the lack of a terrorist attack on the Games. That's always good news, especially to everyone involved with the Games. The more I think about it though, the more I am really not surprised. The security was massive from all reports, and maybe that indirectly more than directly helped. What would you attack if given a choice in planning: a huge event with massive security involving a large portion of the countries in the world or some weaker target? So I guess the question is whether there were no attacks because of the difficulty and consequences of such an attack or because they just simply have other easier targets in mind. Either way, no attacks is a good thing, no matter the reason.

With the end of the Games comes the beginning of the Republican Convention in New York. Being a political junkie as I am, this is good news. Whether I agree with the politics or not, I like watching the coverage of the conventions. Especially Hardball with Chris Matthews. Always a good show with informed guests and pundits. Plus, with all the protesters outside, you can pretty much bet money something will be on fire somewhere.

Working in a bookstore, I get the chance to read magazines and books frequently, probably more than the average person on the street. If you have the time, check out these great articles that I came across:

The Curse of Dick Cheney in the latest Rolling Stone (the one with Michael Moore on the front)
Machine Politics in September's Playboy (the Olympic issue with Amy Acuff)

Without giving too much away, the first one is a background piece on Cheney and how some things seem to connect in his life. The second one is about the voting reforms that were put into place after the 2000 election and how because of them, the 2004 election may be worse. Two great reads for anyone interested.

Well, my kids start back to school in two days. One is going off to 1st grade; the other 5th grade. I have mixed emotions about this. I'm sad to see the summer end and will miss having them around the house but, I also need a break from having them around the house. Oh well, I guess you just get used to it after a while.

Some questions that ran through my head today while I was cutting grass:

Why is the "have a beer with" factor even asked about in a national election? It's not like you will ever get to actually have a beer with the President.

With all the research and reports and studies that show how bad smoking is, why do people still light up the first time?

Why do people stare at you when you do normal everyday activities like cutting grass? Is it really that interesting or weird?

Shouldn't golf be in the Olympics? It is a pretty popular sport worldwide.

Well, back to work tomorrow. Wonder if we will get any Unfit for Command? Probably not....

When?

I work in a bookstore and of course, with the upcoming election being hotly contested, we hear a lot of "opinions" on certain topics and books in our store. Some I agree with...some I don't. But when I am in my store working, I only have one thing that I worry about. Sales. That's it. Nothing else. If a book is selling well...it gets featured. If it isn't...it gets shelved. This has always worked well in our store, with not many comments from customers one way or the other. The biggest complaints we have had was questioning why we didn't have a particular book "out front". When we explained that we were selling the book, but were just currently sold out, most people just shrugged and ordered the book with no further discussion.

Until Unfit for Command.

Since that book has come out, we have been berated up and down on an almost daily basis. Now, my personal politics aside, like I said, when I am in my store, I think of one thing....SALES. If we had the book, it would be out, featured in the front, so people could see it. The only problem is...we don't have it. Not many bookstores, if any do. But because we don't have the book in and featured, people think it gives them the right to question our competence, knowledge, politics, honor and most importantly...integrity. "Well, why don't you have it? If it was a book supporting Kerry, you would have it featured!!! What are you people...stupid? We know you have the book. You are just stockpiling it and refusing to sell it. We know...Rush and Hannity told us on the radio."

Bingo. We have a winner.

According to many of the customers that are irate that we don't have the book, it seems one reason we are getting so much hatred in our store about this book is because of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It seems, as we have now been told, that they "broke" the story about how bookstores were keeping Unfit for Command hidden and refusing to sell it, because it is drastically anti-Kerry. Their listeners are supposed to go into bookstores and demand to have a copy sold to them. Hmmm....interesting. It is supposedly some sort of conspiracy and people are supposed to fight back against it. Hmmmm....again, interesting.

Like someone I listen to on the radio frequently says, "Now, for the rest of the story".

In our system, Unfit for Command had a publishing date set for September 1st. No big deal. Except as we all know, the group that wrote the book started promoting it back right after the Democratic Convention. Of course, as always happen in these situations, people saw them promoting it, so they thought it was available. But it wasn't. And wasn't slated to be till September (at least according to our system).

The people at the book's publisher, Regnery Publishing, probably thought "Crap. We need to get some of these things on the street ASAP." So, according to numbers we have seen now, they initially printed about 30-40000 copies. Not a bad amount for a small publishing house. Except for one thing. By the time they had gone to print, they had upwards of 60000 orders so we have been told for the book from all sources. Oops. We finally got out first shipment of the book on, I believe, the 12th. We got...9 copies. As soon as I opened the box, I took the book up front and put them right in the front of the store, on our New Non-Fiction table. We sold out on the 14th. The book actually lasted longer than I had originally thought.

We were told soon after that the publisher had sent out all the copies they had initially printed, and were in the process of printing more. They would send them out as soon as they had them. Good for them. I'm always glad to see a book find some success, whether I agree with what is in the book or not. We all have bills to pay and sales equals $$$.

The response from the people coming in my store from the point we sold out till now still turns my stomach. We have been accused of being Democratic hacks, liberal leaning idiots, thieves, biased conspirators, unfair, unbalanced, dishonorable, and many other horrible things as well. Just because we don't have a book in stock.

Trust me, if we had it, you would see it.

We got word earlier this week that we would see more books by Saturday the 28th. Whew. Finally. By the time we received our books on Friday the 27th, we had 13 special orders for it. We received 10 books. The much larger bookstore down the street, of which we are the mall division, had 80 special orders. They received 10 books. We are supposed to be receiving more by September 1st, ironically the original publishing date in our system. I sure hope so. My ulcer is killing me.

So there you have it. No big conspiracies. No ill intentions. Just a small publisher got overwhelmed by demand. It happens. But because of comments, untrue ones I might add, from people that wield more power than they would be willing to admit, bookstore employees like myself are getting treated like dirt for no other reason than cheap political ratings to their listeners. Does that hurt John Kerry, which I believe was their intentions in the first place? No. It hurts me and the people that I work with that are trying to do nothing else but concentrate on making sales and staying in business.

My store employs Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. But more importantly, it employs people. People whose lives were made harder by stupid comments that people take as gospel. People who are just trying to make a living.

When did it become acceptable to question a person's integrity and honor because of something as trivial as a book? When did it become alright to treat people with disrespect because you think you have a right too? When did the level of civility in society drop so damn low?

My First Post

Wow. I have a Blog. What power I have now!!! Ok..not really, but its a start. Not much to say right now, except I hope to have more to say later. Stay tuned....