My Best Work

I work at a used bookstore.  It pays the bill, but that's about it.  Some people can go to a job that they don't like, leave and feel better.  That's not me.  I need to have good feelings about what I'm doing to feel good at all.  To feel good, I need to be learning new things, improving the lives of others, and have the luxury to be creative.  Generally, my used bookstore hasn't allowed me to fulfill these needs, until recently. 

This past Tuesday was my best day of work.  A woman carrying a bundle of flowers came into the store and approached the counter asking, "I have sort of a strange request.  My daughter-in-law is expecting and scheduled to give birth tomorrow.  I want to give her some books, light reading books, about girlfriends and things, that she can take to the hospital with her to read.  Do you have any suggestions?"  I was eager to help, but I was feeling out of my area of expertise.  I don't read "books about girlfriends".  I gravitate towards books about animal rights, psychology, and film making.  I try to read classics and books that inspired movies as much as I can.  The only "chick lit" book I've read I bought because my college play-writing professor wrote (which was "Tart" if anyone cares to know.  I liked it!).

So, I pointed this woman in the direction of the fiction section while walking over with her.  I pulled off things from the shelves that were bestsellers because I at least knew that other people had liked them.  I found Confessions of a Shopaholic and presented it to the customer.  She smiled kindly but shook her head, "A girl book but she doesn't like shopping or shoes.  I know, it's a strange request."  Although this was different from my initial idea, I felt like I could better relate to what this mother-to-be might want. 

My mind went to when I was happily working at Blockbuster and swapping books with my manager.  He lent me his Chuck Palahniuk books and I lent him my Nick Hornby books.  I can't remember if my co-worker actually read High Fidelity or just the back cover, but I remember that he didn't finish it.
"It's a chick book," he complained.
 "No it's not!  It's about a guy who can't commit."        
"Well, it's metro-sexual at the very least." 
I saw his point although I doubt I admitted it at the time. 

So, I pulled some Nick Hornby books from the shelf.  A Long Way Down, High Fidelity, and How To Be Good.  I talked about how funny the author was and that the reading was light and engaging.  The woman read the back of the books and held up How To Be Good saying, "This one will work!"  I felt so happy!  I had really helped someone!  Not just rang up their books or answered their questions on the phone, but actually helped them!  We kept looking together and I picked up What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage.  I haven't read it, but I know Oprah likes it.  I like the title and I like the cover.  The woman likes the looks of it too!  She says she's ready to go!

As we walk back up to the counter, I ask if the flowers she's carrying are for her daughter-in-law.  She tells me that they are and that it's her daughter-in-law's birthday today.
"If the baby is born tomorrow, it'll be one birthday after another, and that would be nice."  I agree with her.

I ring up the customer's books and put them in a nice bag.  I tell her to wish her daughter-in-law a "Happy Birthday and Best of  Luck!" for me.  She tells me she will and thanks me for my help. 

As she leaves I find it amazing that a woman will be waiting to bring a new life into being with books I helped pick out in her hands.  Among her last hours before her life changes forever and she becomes a mother, she'll be reading (and probably laughing at) Nick Hornby or a book with abstract art and an Oprah's Book Club Sticker on the cover.  In the grand scheme of things, my hand in the day's events are insignificant but it's the closest I've come to feeling like I'm making a difference in my job so, I'll take it.  I wonder if the kid has been born yet...