You want to know what I
miss? I miss being an assistant manager
of a book store, that’s what I miss. You
want to know what else I miss? I miss
having time to read.
I’ve had a lot of jobs and
a lot of different careers. I excelled
at being retail assistant managers not because I like telling people what to do
– I actually don’t – but because I’m good at math. Damn good at math. I can balance a drawer like it’s nobody’s
business … because it isn’t anybody else’s business except the assistant
manager’s business.
The best part about the
bookstore job was the discount. Oh sure,
I got a fabulous discount at the fabric store, too, but sewing and I never
really clicked too well. Reading and I
clicked the moment I picked up my first book.
Working at the bookstore let me combine my two greatest academic loves:
Reading and math.
I love math. I love algebra. I love trigonometry. I go crazy over quadratic equations. And I love, love, love to read.
There just isn’t enough
time in the day to read. I used to get
all kinds of magazines, but I cancelled a lot of them because I ended up
getting backlogged a few months at a time until I got a break from school and
could sit down and read them all. I felt
guilty waiting so long to read them and missing out on timely articles like “How
to Grill for the Fourth of July” … in October when I finally got to it. I’m starting to reintroduce magazines back
into my life, though.
Which is another
thing. I crave the paper in my
hands. I don’t have a Kindle. I don’t want a Kindle. I need to have the book in my physical
possession. I’m tactile like that, and
olfactive -- There is nothing in the
world like the smell of a book. Ever
gone into a store that sells old or rare books?
Yup, then you know the smell I’m talking about. I melt just walking around a book store. Screw Amazon – It’s not the same. I want to see the books, touch the books,
smell the books. (And count them
sometimes, just to get the math rush.)
I miss having time to
read. It’s a pity I actually have to
work for a living, and it’s a pity I’m not a junior editor somewhere so I can
read books all day long. Maybe I’ll get
fired from my job. I did send off a
couple of controversial emails yesterday to colleagues who seem to think my professional
opinion is unimportant. Maybe I’ll get
hauled into the office and placed on administrative leave.
Then -- I can read. I can read all day and all night (which I
sometimes do, when I can). I’ll read
every damn book in my giant library. I’ll
read the book my brother-in-law lent me that I haven’t gotten to yet.
I’ll read until the words
come out of my ears and eyes and nostrils.
I’ll read until it hurts as much as it hurts right now not having time
to read. I miss books; I hope they miss
me, too.
