Shootings

Tuesday I was in the breakroom at work. One of the managers came in and asked, "Do you know anyone at our Clackamas store?"

"Yeah, lots of people, why?", I answered, thinking of my former co-workers who are now working at that store.

"There's been a shooting at the mall. One of the managers from over there called to let us know that they are all all right, just so we know."

"Oh my god," I said. I immediately texted a few of my friends who work at that store. Employees there was okay, though they were all on lockdown in the breakroom with some customers.

All afternoon and into the evening, staff and customers at my store were checking in with each other and with people we knew from other stores. The gunman had killed two people and then himself.

Last night I went to play trivia with some of my former co-workers, some of whom work at Clackamas and were there the day of the shooting. I wouldn't say that we were all sober and serious. There was joking and laughing and, of course, trivia (we came in second). There was also checking in, asking how everyone was doing, no really. And there were honest answers about being shaken up and scared. There was also a deeper note of being glad to be there, of being glad to see people face to face and know that friends were okay.

This morning's news about the shooting in Connecticut is beyond shocking. An elementary school, for God's sake. At least 26 dead, 18 of them children. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around the terror that this school and community has experienced and will live with forever.

My hope is that Newtown and Clackamas receive support and love they will surely need to live through these horrific events and beyond.

My thoughts and prayers are with them.

An Interesting Suggestion!

"Do you charge people to use the bathroom?", he asked.

"Um, what was that?", I said, not sure I was hearing right.

"Do you charge people to use the bathroom here? You really should," he said. "If people haven't bought an actual book here, then they shouldn't be able to use the bathrooms."

The man, tall with greying hair, unshaven face, wearing a blue rain jacket and jeans, stood by the register to talk to me at the bookstore where I work.

He continued, "People use the bookstore to browse, and they they go home and buy a digital copy of the book. They are using your bookstore to find out what they want, but they aren't supporting you guys. If people think there's no reason for brick and mortar, see how they do if they can't use the bathroom." He was emphatic.

"You've got a point," I said.

"It would be worth it to have someone by the restrooms checking to see if customers have a receipt," he went on, "and then charge them to use the bathroom if they haven't bought anything. Really, you guys should do that."

"Interesting idea," I said.

I smiled, thinking of how a fee to use the bathroom would go over.

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"I like this character"

Therapist and I were talking recently about characters in a book and how we like them.

"I like Amy in Gillian Flynn's GONE GIRL," she said.

"You like Amy?", I said. "I didn't really like her," I replied.

"I liked her as a character," she said.

"Ah." I paused. "Interesting distinction," I said. "It seems that when people talk about 'liking a character', they are talking about whether they like the character as a person. They are talking about whether they would want to be friends with that character, not necessarily that the character was written well."

"No," she said. "I'm talking about liking the character as it is written in the book. Amy is a brilliant character. Gillian Flynn did such a good job of portraying her motivations and actions, her struggle against being 'Amazing Amy', and how that all played out so diabolically in her relationship with Nick."

"She absolutely did," I agreed.

I've read Gillian Flynn's SHARP OBJECTS and DARK PLACES. As with GONE GIRL, these other books have believable characters that are not necessarily likable people.

             

Who are your favorite literary characters? And do you like the characters as people? Or are they your favorites because they were created at the hands of a skilled writer?

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Choosing a Book to Donate

For our holiday book drive, we're asking customers to donate books that we will give to a school in the area that has been flooded several times.

One of my co-workers was talking to a man about the book drive, "The school was flooded, and we're trying to help them build up their library. I have some books here, and there are some back here..." she pointed to the shelves behind her, full of dozens of children's books.

"I'd like to donate, I'm just not sure which one," the man with greying hair, wearing a long brown raincoat and brown hat, said.

She pointed to the book closest to her register, "There's this one. They could learn about lightning."

      

"Sure," the man said, "that's a good idea. They already know about flooding."

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