The local Borders is closing and it is (partially) my fault. Let me begin by admitting two things: (1) I enjoy browsing in books stores and (2) I am extremely cheap. I would regularly go to Borders to hang out. I like to touch and feel books, and preview the latest arrivals. I like the coffee and the comfy chairs. I like the people who work there. I like the free Wifi and company of book lovers. I rarely, however, bought books at Borders. I either buy the books for the cheapest price online or borrow them from a library or my friends. As a result I spent a lot of time at Borders but rarely spent much money there. Now that Borders is declaring bankruptcy and closing my local store, I will loose this friendly space to browse.
The doors of my doomed local bookstore have not yet closed, so I descended upon the soon to be unemployed clerks to get the 20-40% off final sales prices. I was not the only scavenger at the store. The place was packed. The lines were long. There was no coffee for sale, but at least we all finally bought something. Well, maybe everyone else was a regular customer. I finally bought books at Borders. Soon it will be gone (at least from my neighborhood). I sadly and guiltily wished the sales clerk luck in her job search as I checked out. And so, as they say, it goes.
I was thinking as I stood in line that if I were to suddenly find myself a billionaire, I could open a private nonprofit book club where people could come in, drink coffee, use the resources and meet for book-themed events. If the wisdom of the old TV show WKRP in Cincinnati can be trusted, I might even get a tax write off for my efforts if the place lost money. Then again, if I were to to suddenly find myself filthy stinking rich, I'd have a large private library in my new mansion, and a warehouse full of paperbacks. I would sit for hours alone with my piles of books, move them around with a fork lift and act like Scrooge McDuck in his money vault.
Perhaps it was penny pinching coffee bums like myself who pushed Borders into bankruptcy, or maybe they were too slow to understand the ebook market and other changing market factors. There are those who might say it's all come full circle, since big chain stores like Borders once drove many local mom and pop book stores out of business. Whether it's market forces or karma, I am not hurting too badly since I can still make it to the local library and to the comforts of Barnes and Nobel. So I give this last thought for my local Borders—thanks for being there. I will miss you.
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