Not Even a Blueberry Scone!

Dear Fellow Blogger:

I have a mea culpa to make.  I am a procrastinator. It's been a long time since I posted my last blog entry. Life became a busy venture of vacationing and  of many other things requiring my immediate attention. I still reside, however, here in the Land of  Blog. This short entry, dear Fellow Blogger, is to remind you of what is coming up. I am working on a book review of Charlotte Sinclair’s Vogue on Christian Dior and a piece on the Australian singer Laini Colman. So, lots of good stuff ahead.

There is something else I would like share. This posting is not about fashion or history (well, perhaps some recent history). It is about common courtesy.

I had to go my neighborhood gas station to fill up my automobile. I should note that this gas station has  – like many other gas stations around the United States – what is called a “convenient store.” Anyway, I found a vacant spot and proceeded to follow the steps to fill up my gas tank. As I was filling up, I noticed my fellow customers. Many of them took up other open spots next to the available fuel pumps. What befuddled me, however, was that many of them parked there  NOT to buy gasoline, but to make a purchase inside the convenient store. Why would do they that? There are plenty of parking spaces on the premises.  Are they not cognizant of the fact that that they might inconvenience those who are running late for school or for work? I do not know about you, Fellow Blogger, but I find it all a wee bit annoying.

Bookstore chains – like Barnes and Noble – have areas where one can purchase a hot something and/or a baked good.  It’s nice that one can buy coffee or tea while looking over the newest titles in history or fashion photography.  Kath – a  great friend and fellow fashion photography  enthusiast – reminded me the other day how in English cities (like York) there are bookstores that “have tea rooms, and you can spend lots of time browsing the great reads.” What annoys me, however, is not the coffee or the tea. What annoys me is how some people leave their coffee cups on the book shelves. What bothers me further is this. There are some customers who will enter a bookstore. They will then find what they are looking for (like a handbook or a magazine). They will then sit down, find what they are looking for, and then leave without making a single purchase. Not even a blueberry scone! I can understand that sort of thing happening  at a public library. But at a bookstore?

Does anyone remember Borders Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan? It was paradise. They had a wide selection of wonderful books! They had an academic press section, as well as sections devoted to art, fiction, photography, and other aspects of the humanities. Borders’ staff was bright and knowledgeable of all things literary. Most of all, those who came to the book store were courteous. No one talked loudly. All were respectful of those around them while savoring lines from either Walt Whitman or Mark Twain. (It was at Borders in Ann Arbor that my Mom purchased her copy of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.) I also remember this beautiful used book store in York. It was not far from the city’s Cathedral. I remember spending many hours browsing and purchasing books that I still have in my book shelve at home. The used book shop in York was also staffed by some great people, who’s knowledge of books greatly impressed me. Its patrons were also the same: courteous and respectful of those who entered the shop’s sacred literary walls. It was a place where epeolatry prevailed.

I pray that one day common courtesy will make a comeback. In the meantime, I will work away at my next two blog entries. Stay well, Fellow Blogger, and always remember to have a blueberry scone sometime during the day!