Mommy Calls

At the bookstore, we get requests for books over the phone all the time. Quite often, we get calls from women who are calling to find out if we have a book for their child. Their grown child. How do we know they are grown? By the books they request (college textbooks, adult novels). We also know because we hear the "child's" voice in the background.

Mother (to "child" after getting information from me): "They only have it in hardcover, but it'll be out in paperback next month. What do you want to do?"

Person in the background with a deep voice (another clue that the "child" is grown) will reply, "I just want paperback."

Mother: "He will just wait for the paperback to be released.

OR, the parent is calling (and it's almost always the mom), and asking if we have a certain textbook. We don't usually carry textbooks in the store, which is usually a disappointment to them. "Oh no. He needs it by tomorrow."

A friend of mine who works on a college campus calls these, "Mommy calls". Mom is worried about something and is trying to take care of something for the "child". So Mommy calls. She gets them in her office (Dean of Math and Sciences). And we get them at the bookstore.

We've wondered together why the "child" doesn't call to find out about the class or to obtain the book. And why doesn't the "child" call BEFORE they needed the book? Why does the mother take on the worry of not having the textbook for the college class? It is the student who will not be prepared. And the student should feel the consequences.

Thanks for stopping by the blog! You can "like" us on our facebook page, NOT the New York Times Book Review. You can also send us email: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com.