Life, actually…a tribute to all shopkeepers…

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What it takes to land a human on the surface of a bookstore aisle…

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Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five four, three, two, one…opening wide the big wooden  door…

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Time to be about my Father’s business…my father, who worked hard for modest pay but loved working, just as I do…

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Time to entertain…

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Time to make some friends…

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Time to face at least whatever occurs…

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Time to say I dunno whether we have a copy of that, but let’s look…

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Time to say Yes, we always have copies of that one…

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Time to say I just sold my last copy but another is on its way…

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Time to direct someone to the restroom…

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Time to re-shelve books lying about after customer shuffling…

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Time to reply to someone who says I’m just perusing…

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Time to make a corny joke, You can peruse AND look around, too…

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Time to see whether my jokes improve or decline with the aging of the day…

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And so on and so forth…

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During a moment between shoppers, the letter carrier arrives…

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Hello, she says. Good morning, I say. Is it quiet out on the streets? So far, she says. Let’s hope for more of that quiet, I say. Good idea, but I wouldn’t bank on it, she says, a philosophical smile in her voice…

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Her departure brings back the quiet…

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Miles Davis’ horn accompanies the silence, broken only by the shelving sounds of books sliding securely between books…

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Wow! Look at this, an arriving newcomer exclaims, as he stares up and around in awe of the shop’s variety…

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His sense of excitement and discovery invigorates me…

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I prepare to do this most satisfying of jobs for the next seven hours…

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Even when I’m not at home, being at the bookstore feels like home

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© Jim Reed 2022 A.D.

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