I kid you not.
Posted on 09/15/2004 5:04:36 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Conservatives like to tell war stories-and refute them, a la the Swift Boat Vets-and some of those stories concern bookstores. And the people who work in them. Who tend to be….well, not exactly the most conservative-friendly people in the world. The bookstore leftist is more standard than the bookstore cat. And conservatives have often found these stores to be hostile territory.
In recent weeks, reports have circulated that customers-or would-be customers-are having a hard time finding Unfit for Command, John O'Neill's anti-Kerry book. Conservatives have suspected that stores are keeping it from them, or that clerks are deep-sixing them, or that something untoward is happening. Paranoia is in the air.
But sometimes paranoids can be on to something. I don't scoff at these suspicions, mainly because of my own experience-most of it in Ann Arbor, Mich., my hometown. (Ann Arbor is a bookseller's paradise, and, in some ways, a conservative's hell.) I worked at a store called The Little Professor. The manager there-a nice guy, actually-wouldn't put out conservative magazines and gun magazines. He flat refused to bring them to the floor, acting as censor. My brilliant (and conservative) friend Eddie Krause came up with a new name for the store: The Little Suppressor.
It may be hard to believe, but it took something like an act of courage to buy a conservative magazine in an Ann Arbor bookstore. I used to dread it-the clerk was almost invariably cold, and he often bristled, and sometimes you got snotty remarks. It was a relief just to get through a purchase without incident. And I know many who could give the same testimony.
In truth, it could be dicey to ask for a bag-yes a bag. That made you a despoiler of the environment, you see.
I know a journalist who lived in the Ann Arbor of the West, Berkeley. Purchasing his National Reviews and American Spectators at Moe's, he would say to the clerk, "Well, just keeping an eye on what the enemy is doing"-anything to get by. These tactics may not be brave, but, gosh, are they human.
As the Swift controversy heated up, the two bookselling giants, Borders and Barnes & Noble, were besieged by callers angry that they could not find Unfit for Command. Conservative hollered, "J'accuse!" Both companies pleaded that it was the fault of the publisher, our beloved Regnery-the supplier had not printed enough copies to meet demand. Liberals, for their part, also besieged the companies, demanding that they pull the book from their shelves.
Come with me now, to BorderUnion.org, "The Borders Books Employee Union Web Site." Herein lie some revelations-or confirmations. In notes to one another, Borders clerks have been griping about having to sell Unfit for Command, to the troglodytes who seek it. Although not every seeker is a trog: According to one clerk, "We did have a college professor come in looking for [the book]. She teaches a writing class and wanted to use it as an example of a 'false book.'" Or maybe she just wanted to read it and wanted to avoid grief from the clerk?
But let's get to the nitty-gritty. Writes a Borders Books beauty,
"We're "finding" [note those quotations marks] that most of the few copies we're getting are damaged and need to be sent back. So sad. Too bad. Bushies! Regnery needs to be more careful. I'm hearing from people at two other stores that this seems to be common. Why should we help destroy what is left of our country?"
Back for a second crack, our man exhorts,
"You guys don't actually HAVE to sell the thing! Just "carelessly" hide the boxes, "accidentally" drop them off pallets, "forget" to stock the ones you have, and then suggest a nice Al Franken or Michael Moore book as a substitute. Borders wants those recommends (sic), remember?
I don't care if these Neanderthals in fancy suits get mad at me [fancy suits?]. They aren't regular customers anyway. Other than "Left Behind" books, they don't read. Anything you can do to make them feel unwelcome is only fair."
Another Borders beauty writes, "I wish [conservative customers] really knew how little respect I have for them." Oh, we know, babe-we know.
Not long ago, readers of National Review Online sent in to me their experiences of trying to buy Unfit, and of dealing with bookstore clerks in general. Care for a (very) small sampling of their observations?..........[Continued]
The rest of the article can be found at your friendly Borders or Barnes & Noble bookstores.
It is in this weeks issue of The Weekly Standard. Good luck finding it.
It is in NATIONAL REVIEW!
Big Oops!
Sorry National Review.
There WAS a Little Professor bookstore near me. It went out of business. I know why.
Find another bookstore that treats you better, spend your money there, write a letter to the CEO of the liberal bookstores on why you are not shopping there anymore.
Conservatives probably read more and spend more than the average bookstore customer. Look at CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC to what happens when you ignore at least 50% of your customers...they go somewhere else and spend their money on the competition (FOX).
I don't know how Barnes and Noble stores are elsewhere but the one in Burlington Vermont is a freak show. The employees look like they should have a circus barker introducing them.
"See the man with his eyebrows shaved off!!!"
"See the woman with tatoos covering her entire body!!!"
"See the woman with the bone through her nose!!!"
Can anyone find this site? "BorderUnion.org"
They deliver them to your door!!!
The two or three dollars shipping is worth not having to deal with the mentally diseased.
Save yourself the trouble and order off of amazon or similar site. Same price delivered to your door. It's virtually the only way I order books anymore.
Now I go to bookstores for coffee.
I go to coffee stores for music and pastry.
I don't go to music stores and bakeries no longer exist in middle america.
:>)
Now being a former Marine, and a FReeper (a dangerous combination...) I decided to have my own little FReep in the middle of the store. In my my incredulous and loud voice I stated "Do you mean to tell me that Borders does not have a book that has been on the NY Times Bestsellers List for three weeks?", before the leftist pincushion could reply, I said "I find it rather odd that you have stacks of Maureen Dowd's Anti-Bush screed - something fit only for use as toilet paper, a book not even on the NYT list prominently displayed at the front of your store." The pincushion just smiled one of those leftist scumbag smirks. I grabbed the store manager to complain, and this creep pointed to a crudely printed sign behind the counter that stated "Due to high demand, the book "Unfit for Command" is only being sold by special order". Creep #2 had the gall to ask if I'd like to special order the book. Back into FReep mode, I said "I came into this store to buy the #1 NYT Bestseller, since your store obviously has a political agenda in not stocking this book, I'll get mine from AMAZON!"
The frustrating aspect of all of this is that this in not the first time this has happened. I couldn't find and of Anne Coulter's books, and none of Sean Hannity's either. This tendancy of the left to censor anything that does not agree with their adgenda is perhaps the most distressing aspect of their cause. Perhaps a large-scale FReep of Borders is in order?
During the really cold winter months when it's 20 below, I drive down to the Barnes & Noble and sip espresso while reading books and letting my kids run amock in the store. I keep an eye out in the parking lot for all the liberal dummies who have a dead battery and no jumper cables. Last winter I made over $100 with my diesel truck which has cables on a coil which extend 25'. Decent people I start for free. The whacky arrogant liberals I charge. It's funny that every time I start the whacky ones, they explain to me that it's not their fault they have a bad battery.
And they call us "Brownshirts."
amazon
they forgot the "s"
http://www.bordersunion.org/
The link listed in the article is missing the "s" in Borders. The correct URL is http://www.BorderUnion.org.
This link will take you straight to the Unfit for Command Forum thread http://www.bordersunion.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=1195.
This reminds me of the when I was homeschooling my son. He was probably in 8th grade.
I had "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on his reading list, because we were using literature to reinforce what we were studying in history.
Anyhoo, when I went to pick it up at our local bookstore, I got a lecture from the bookstore employee how she thought it was improper reading for a teenager.
I don't think the clerk had ever read the book. I went on to explain why Harriet Beecher Stowe had written the book, etc. The clerk was clueless and was worried it would turn my kid into a racist, LOL!
And yet, try to suggest that 'Playboy' should not be available to minors in the public library and see what the Left says.
Shalom.
Wow she really is clueless *lol*
We used to have two Little Professors in town here; both are now gone. We still have Border's around here though, and they are definitely the worst. A lot of these stores seem to be populated with the same kind of crowd I see at local libraries. In both cases, I get the distinct feel of being in hostile territory.
Jay is right about Ann Arbor being bookstore heaven (unless you're looking for a Conservative magazine) -- I live in Jackson, MI, about 45 minutes west of Ann Arbor. Jackson only has a couple of small book stores, so I often make the drive to liberal hell to spend the afternoon at the humongous Borders south of town (and stop at Panera Bread too).
Apparently "American Bungalow" magazine is a safe buy.
I don't like to shop in Ann Arbor -- the traffic is heinous and downtown is...well...a liberal cesspool. You can't walk down the street without being visually assaulted with "I'm an idiot and I hate Bush" crap.
Just print several copies of this article and visit them ala Johhy Appleseed.
OMg, that is really pathetic! Shouldn't bookstores at least require their clerks to be culturally literate?
www.BordersUnion.org
My mouth is hanging open.
LOL
Let's see.
Like I should care about the opinion of a chick who couldn't get a better job than clerking in a bookstore?
Thank you!
I kid you not.
Do you have a more direct link to the article? I can't find it.
Nice work there pajama-wearing Google monkey! No wait, that's a fancy-suit-wearing Google monkey.
How sad.
Here's an addition to your methods: after buying your books from Amazon.com, make sure you send a message to Borders, Barnes and Noble and so forth, even telephone your local store to speak with the owner/manager, and tell them what you did and why you did it. Let them know you voted with your consumer dollars that you would not be treated like that by some left-wing freaks who take it upon themselves to be media censors. I laugh when I read that these misfits are doing these types of things to "save what's left of our country". Well, at least they have one thing right - they are saving what's "left", indeed. But, their hypocrisy is, shall we say, "astounding".
LOL!
Considering that Barnes & Noble pays so poorly, what do you expect? I worked for Barnes & Noble When my husband and I moved to another state to start a new business with a friend. They paid minimum wage and I was cheated out of promised health insurance.
I read the Borders employee forum. I don't doubt some conservatives were behaving that way. I called up Border's and just asked when the book would be in, and the girl offered to put me on an order list (without me asking first).
I did see Unfit For Command displayed as the #1 book in a local WaldenBooks store. However, they had innocently stacked a row of books overtop of the bestselling books.
I am sure that was not done to mask the number one book's status. Nooooooo.
If a cashier ever gave me a hard time about any purchase, I'd ask to see the manager immediately, and demand that he/she apologize right there in front of the customers.
I ordered "Unfit" from B&N before it was published. I usually order online from them, thus avoiding silly clerks, etc. So far it's been hassle free.
They know me at our local Books A Million as they have a habit of hiding books by conservative authors and I expect a modicum of service from retailers. I've quit walking all over the store trying to decipher what section they will deem appropriate to hide, er, I mean, house these books. I simply walk up to the counter, ask them if they have a copy of this book or that, and then tell them I'll wait while they locate it for me. I started this after being sent to Biography, Business, and finally New Age to find Cavuto's "More than Money" and then accidentally knocked over their shoulder high display of "My Life" by X42. Oops, pardon me.
I don't know about Burlington, but each time I pass through Montpellier, Vt, I believe I am in a time warp with aging hippies all around...
Thanks; it must not be on the web yet.
FYI Borders has a marketing/sales agreement with amazon.com.
Go to Borders.com and look at the top!
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