Confessions of a Curious Bookseller(2)
Best wishes,
Fawn, Owner, The Curious Cat Book Emporium
From: Kyle Krazinsky
Sent: Tue, Nov 6, 2018 at 7:11 PM
To: Fawn Birchill
Subject: Cat food
Hey Fawn,
Just wanted to let you know that I went out tonight and picked up some food for the alley cats behind the store because I noticed your bag was running low. I’ll bring it in tomorrow, so don’t feel like you have to go out and buy more tonight.
Kyle
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Wed, Nov 7, 2018 at 8:02 PM
To: Florence Eakins
Subject: Richard
Dear Florence,
I fear that I have little patience left for Richard. Hopefully you have told Mother nothing of him, and as far as she knows I am not dating or seeing anyone at the moment. I do hope, Florence, that you have managed to keep this secret for me. Please also remember that the only reason I’ve told you anything is because I do not have many female friends that I can trust and confide in, and so I hold you to this promise that you made to me in the beginning to not tell Mother about Richard. If he were any other kind of man, I would brag about him. I would be bringing him around all the time. But Richard? I often wonder late at night as I lie alone in the bed how it ever got to this point with him. How did I complacently allow this dating to go on as long as it has? Can you believe it’s been three months? Just last week, he took me out to dinner and paid for it himself! If this doesn’t smell like commitment, then I don’t know what does! He tried to kiss me that night after dinner as he was dropping me off (I tell him to stop four blocks away from my actual house because I don’t want him to know where I live). After watching him eat that soup all night, he really expects me to kiss him? The dribbling, Florence! The front of his shirt was sodden in vegetable broth before the main course had even arrived.
Once, while walking down the street, sweating in the October heat, he told me all about how he had a deep and affectionate love for freight trains and begged me, like a little boy, to go down to the Schuylkill with him where the freight train runs to see it go by. I was only tempted to say yes insofar as I might have gotten the chance to push him in front of it.
Florence, how do I do it? How do I rid myself of this man (besides the unthinkable freight train idea)?
How do I break it off gently?
Many thanks,
Fawn
November 8, 2018
Sometimes asking for help only presents a hindrance. Yesterday, for example, it rained so much that water began pouring into the store through the closed windows! And as I was running around directing my team of three to close the shutters, water was dripping all over my bed upstairs! And so instead of catching it with buckets like I should have been, I had to micromanage their efforts. One would think that putting three heads together is an advantage, but in their case the outcome is more akin to a head injury.
But they mean well, and I can’t fault them for trying. They are good workers and, like me, have a soft spot for feeding the alley cats behind the store. Even though my employees can be forgetful at times, I never have to remind them to keep the bowls filled. The other day my newest employee noticed that my cat food was getting low and went out and bought another bag. He didn’t even ask for money! This gives me hope for the future.
When I was their age—no, much younger, in fact—I was running my father’s general store with my sister with perfect competence. While our father was out on deliveries and Florence handled the books, I was front and center, selling cigarettes and milk while sweeping up spills and telling the town drunk to take a hike. The responsibility I had! I have to admit it, and it pains me to say it, but without this experience I might not be so brazen and successful. Sadly, I can’t say the same for my sister, Florence, who has Falstaff’s work ethic, but to each her own. I am not sure how the two of us, who had the same upbringing, could turn out so differently, but alas, life is funny. All I can do is seek to better myself.
The holidays are approaching. I am nervous as usual that I won’t hit my numbers, especially now with the advent of this new little bookstore just down the street. All these negative business reviews aren’t helping, but they are par for the course ever since I added my business to the platform. The truth of it is that most people who come in are quite satisfied, but generally speaking, happy people don’t leave reviews. So we hear the negativity far more frequently. Over the years I’ve learned not to take any of this personally, but I do hope it doesn’t sadden my employees too much. No one is born with thick skin; instead it is battle-tested on the rough seas of the business world. I hope they can survive.
phillysmallbiz.com
Thu, Nov 8, 2018
Top Review—The Curious Cat Book Emporium
Before I went all the way to their store, I called to make sure they had Great Expectations. I need it for school, like yesterday. Anyway, I got all the way there only to hear from one of the employees that it wasn’t there, and when I told him I had even called to make sure it was there, he said that it must have been purchased. I live five minutes away. Am I supposed to believe that in the time it took me to hang up and go outside, someone else came in and bought their only copy of Great Expectations? I guess I should have lowered my own before entering their store.
—Beth G.
phillysmallbiz.com
Thu, Nov 8, 2018
Dear Beth G.,