Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise
Twenty hours of snow to bury the car. Two hours with a shovel to dig it out. Two minutes to get bogged down two blocks from home.
I was so sure my skills and experience would get me through. Turns out, it was more like two guys with a shovel and a hearty push. I didn’t slow down until the car was back in the nice, freshly shoveled driveway.
Perhaps the bookstore won’t be open Thursday, either. On the other hand, this is Oklahoma, where on occasion the temperature goes up after dark.
I am at the kitchen table, trying to ignore the blinding glare from the back yard. Oklahoma is said to be a ‘blue’ state, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much white. The book store is closed, as are the roads through this neighborhood.
Should’a: (1) Bought some items when I filled up at QuikTrip. (2) Battled the crowds at the grocery store Monday evening, since I’d love to be cooking something right now. (3) Gone to bed Monday night, instead of venturing out regularly to clear the car for Tuesday’s morning drive. (4) Taken some photos of books to list for sale on the internet. (5) Brought along the gloves I left on the front counter.
Glad that I: (1) Filled up at QuikTrip. (2) Didn’t venture out Tuesday morning, since I likely would have been mired in a snowdrift. (3) Don’t work for a corporation any longer, that would have required me to be on the job and driving to get there.
Granted, I have selective memory – but I don’t remember being stuck inside a house before. No doubt, all the years in broadcasting required that I be on the job, forcing the snow-shoveling and slippery driving. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so trapped if I had a compelling reason to dig out.
Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy the fact that Oklahoma has four seasons – even if none of them last particularly long!
This week marks the beginning of our fifth year of bookselling as Broken Arrow’s Main Street bookstore. Still, there are people who come in every day (this has been a literal truth for the past four years) who say “I had no idea there was a bookstore here!”
“Yes,” I reply. “Been here for years.”
The sign out front says “Since 1975.” Obviously, I haven’t been selling books from this location that long, but I’ve been buying and selling books since then. One of my original entrepeneurial efforts (1975) had me shuffling merchandise to free up a wall for selling books.
It reminds me of the quote from comedian Steven Wright (a genius I was fortunate to once meet), who said: “I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, “Hey, the sign says you’re open 24 hours.” He said, “Not in a row.” ”
So, in that spirit, I’ve been selling books for 35 years… I think I’ll change the sign to read, “open 24 hours.”
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