Went to Borders today. Again. For about the 12th time since they announced their doors were closing for good. It was sad. Everything good is gone, and most of the bookshelves are sold (3 book cases for $99? they'd better be sold!) and it feels like the end of an era. I appreciate Barnes & Noble and all, but Borders was always my favorite. I feel bereft knowing my children will never know the store as anything other than "that store that's been out of business for FOREVER but Mommy just won't let go of." Sigh. (I'll teach them the no-preposition-at-the-end rule at some point. For some reason they just won't follow it when finishing that sentence.)
I befriended one of the employees, and he cheerfully gave me the scoop, which is to say, this last price break (everything 70-90% off) is going to be the lowest they go (as far as he knows) and that the two stores near us are closing officially next Thursday. We also discussed the liquidation company that now technically owns Borders (and if by that I mean that there is no such thing as Borders any more--they don't exist...) and Books-a-Million (we don't have any in the vicinity, but one just bought the location of one of our Borders and so we'll finally have one. Silver lining, I guess...), and why this particular employee has decided to retire instead of try to find a new job after Borders shuts down for good. All in all, it was fascinating, albeit a bit sad, and then he gave me some extra discounts at the cash register. I love when people start telling their LifeStory (TM) to me and next thing I know we're friends. Or something.
But seriously, I'll miss Borders. I've had such good times in there! I used to compel people to go into the kid's section and read Children's books to one another, just because it seemed funny. I met some Christian teenagers in Borders one time who were looking for the "perfect Bible" for one of their friends, and we ended up discussing why they thought Arphaxad was such a cool name and the merits of bringing shovels with you when you went camping. I one time lost a cell phone case in Borders. And parked too close to some lady (so she says--I maintain that I was within the lines of my parking space) who called me to the front courtesy counter to have me move my car. My brother and I would field trip there to mock vampire books. My friends and I would go and covet their expensive craft books. I got my first copy of Pride and Prejudice at Borders. I went to Borders after the third book in The Giver series came out (Messenger) and looked at it sadly, right after my brother died, because he'd so been looking forward to it coming out. I read it for the both of us. My friend and I went to an Apolo Ohno booksigning there. Borders was where I always deliberated over my journal choices, debating which one had the best line width and appropriate bindings. I bought birthday gifts there, and prizes for my Sunday School class, and generally enjoyed smelling their books.
I'm going to miss that.
Borders, I'll miss you. Thank you for 40 years of bookish awesomeness.
No comments:
Post a Comment