Why My Next Book Purchase Will Be From Amazon

I don't do this very often, but I've come to a quite conflicting realization over the last week. 

Austin and I recently went to Eugene, Oregon - okay, he had to go for work, and I tagged along :).  I always get really excited when we go somewhere with lots of local shops and of course, book stores.  Well, Eugene has plenty of them, so you can imagine how excited I was!  I've always been a proponent of shopping local when you can, with both sets of my grandparents owning small, family businesses.  However, living in Vicksburg, book selections are limited unless you go to Monroe or Jackson so we do have Amazon Prime and I frequently (more often than Austin would like) order books and have them promptly delivered 2 days later.

But I digress - I was very excited about spending a week with a very large cup of coffee in my hand, perusing these local bookstores.

The first one I went to early one morning.  The store did not have coffee, or a shop close to it, so I got a very large coffee from our hotel and headed downtown.  After driving around for 15 minutes through construction, and wrangling with a parking meter, I finally found a place to park.  The store was a booklover's wonderland!  Books on very tall shelves, used books stacked all over the floor - I dove right in!  But about 20 minutes later, the coffee kicked in and I needed a bathroom.  The cashier was in a very deep conversation with a friend about planning an intervention for another friend, so I ventured through the shelves to find the bathroom.  After walking through the entire store, I couldn't find it!  So, I finally got the cashier's attention and asked.  "Oh, the comic book store behind us has all of the building's bathrooms,"  she said.  "And they don't open until 10."  It was 9:20.  I was in trouble.  Long story short, I walked down the block to this cafe, paid $2 for a cookie I didn't want, just to go to the bathroom. 

Then I headed a few blocks over to a local music shop to buy lesson books for a student I'm about to start teaching piano.  I had been there two days before just scoping out their merchandise.  I walked in, went right to the section I found the books before, and started going through them.  As soon as my hand touched the first book, this man leaped (and I mean Leaped) across the counter at me and shouted "DON'T TOUCH MY OVERSTOCK!!!  I SPENT ALL DAY YESTERDAY ORGANIZING THEM!!!  THE SAME BOOKS ARE RIGHT HERE - THESE ARE THE ONES YOU CAN HAVE!!!"  He tried to recover and say that he didn't want me to have to kneel on the ground, but the damage was already done.  I should have just walked out right then and there, but I needed those books.  I paid for them, politely thanked them, and left. 

Austin said I should have said, "Amazon lets me touch their books."  I wish I had his instant wit.  Mine always comes 20 seconds after I've walked out the door.

So, as I drove away after two bad experiences that day, I realized what makes us so drawn to Amazon and instant gratification.  I can order an book I want while drink my own coffee, use my own bathroom, and never have to get out of my pajamas or deal with nasty salespeople or someone's friend intervention drama.   And BAM!  Two days later, Lila Belle alerts me that the nice UPS man is here to deliver my book.  It gives her joy too - isn't that what it's all about? 

So we'll blame it on Lila, that me buying books on the Internet makes her happy because she gets to greet the UPS man.  I can rationalize anything!

Rant over now - thanks for reading,
katie