RUDIMENTS, pt. 1,287
(troubles too many to deal with)
It's funny about a bookstore - today
anyway - because we can, pretty much
buy some pressured-on-us crap book
and then ask ourselves 'Why the Hell
am I reading this crap?' At the lower
levels of this trash, books now are a
huge retrenchment. Face it, does
anyone, ANYone with 1/10th of a
brain care about anything that some
Godless megalouch like Howard Stern
Cardi B and the Metallica guy (name
already forgotten, down the neighborhood
toilet local sinkhole), cares about anything?
-
What happens now, in our gutless world,
is that if you produce and gather fame, it
gets turned into infamy, and you get to
write about it because the 'Herb Schwartz's
in the publishing world just HAVE to
know about your Tourette's when young,
and how you overcame it, or your pleurisy -
which troubled you at age 14 and brought
you so few friends. (They mostly all are
Herb Schwartzes), as was so much of
old Book Row. It's all a very funny line of
that same, scrunched-over, penny-by-penny
counters doing this stuff to us, but it can't
be talked about, so I guess I'll just move on.
-
The Princeton bookstore was going to be
different - 'we'll have no books by talking
TV heads, no pop personalities...' Those
designations, when you come down to it,
fall away quickly when the larger dollars
come knocking at the sales door, but I
will, in all sincerity, say that for the most
part it was kept to and abided by. There was
a Barnes & Noble out along the Route One
highway, and anyone needing that sort of
masturbatory reinforcement could go there.
Labyrinth, on the other hand, had a good
raft of people making personal appearances
and talking or signing, and, when it wasn't
coursebook 'season' the downstairs area
was reconfigured for social sessions and
appearances. I remember, back when NY
Governor Cuomo (the first one, the father),
not Andrew who resigned, had a new book
out, and selected his appearance and talk
to be at the Princeton B&N out on the
highway. I wondered why, thinking he'd
probably have been a good draw, but,
anyway, he went there. No loss.
-
Labyrinth was also underway, after
a year or two, with a collectible and
rare/antique book-sales program. A
lot of the Princeton faculty, as they
died off or retired, would contact us,
or their survivors would, to appraise
and/or purchase their libraries - books
accumulated during years of teaching,
living, and learning. The best of them,
signed copies, old or antique or the
hard-to-find books, or specialty books
particular to that 'Professor's depth
and specialty, could often be quite
valuable, and often, as well, bought
cheaply. This became just another
instance of my Huck Finn nemesis
muscling me out of contention -
by which time I was exhausted by
the clamor anyway so I didn't much
care. She had been given control
over the pricing, display and
management of that specialty
books section as well, (where she
sometimes slept the night too). All
that would mean nothing, except
that, by the end of a few years
(nothing to do with me or my
participation), all of this was
turned into a lawsuit by Ms.
Huck Finn , over wages. I think
she'd been fired by then too, for
reasons I can't remember now at
all. Anyhow, she wanted wages
compensated to her for the
Management duties she had
'acquired', and she wanted them
retroactively and paid. That too
then became a problem, because
on paper, that contracted 'Manager'
was me, and I'd already been
paid. So, once more, and the same
as when that guy got decked at B&N,
we each had to write down our account
privately, of what had transpired as we
saw it, and we were also told to be
prepared, if needed, too testify to it
in court. That was pretty much the
last straw for me. I'd worked for 7
years at that point, without any
increase in salary (I've always been
a jerk about money), never saying
anything, about it, etc. I figured if
they were that unhappy with me that
they were OK with going to those
extremes and still feel good about
themselves, so be it. What was funny,
all these females who'd been deaf to
any of my declarations, and to whom
Huck Finn here was next to Godly,
now they'd all spun on her, in place,
and scattered widely. The weirdest
part? We never did need to testify,
Huck Finn won her case, with what
I was told was a nice settlement, and
she's off now, somewhere, doing fine,
and married to one of girls who also
used to work with us. Life sure twists.
-
I started this Princeton/Labyrinth chapter
with the small heading 'Troubles too many
to deal with' - though it also could have
been 'Don't get involved in worlds you're
not part of.' That's equally valid. In any
case, I never minded the battering because
I drew so much from it. I knew I was
headed for the 'conclusion' of my work
years by retiring. Hints had been thrown
my way, things I honestly couldn't ignore.
A lady at the warehouse had turned 60, and
the warehouse guy made numerous comments
in my hearing, on his early morning visits
to drop books and materials off to my
department, how he couldn't get her to
retire, though she should. (He was about
42 maybe). One's perspectives change
drastically as time drags along, so let's see
how he feels in a few years. BUT, at 64 I
did tender a resignation. To my surprise they
didn't wish to accept it, and asked if I'd stay
around for at least another year - incentivizing
the offer with a decent lump sum, and allowing
me to work 4 days a week, and setting my own
hours! Just so as to ease out and coach others
in. That was pretty cool I thought. I said OK,
and stayed a little more than a year, working
like 8am to 1pm. That was cool, and it became,
as well, a whole other 'life' so it never felt
like just continuing the drag.
-
I've always worked my way into
uncomfortable situations, for the
good, like this Labyrinth spate - mostly
by being a good conversationalist, even
though I wasn't. However, to do that, one
needs to develop a good eye and a good
ear. Which I had. I watched everything,
noticing peoples' ways and likes, habits
and approaches, listening to the things
they said about where they've been, and
then those careful observations would be
my way in to delving a bit into the person's
head, starting at the least, a thread we
could fill out to find some common ground.
It was pretty easy, but it often ended up
with its own confusions and problems.
I can easily exemplify the strangeness of
my situation, outside of Huck Finn
already covered.
-
At a Halloween Party or somesuch, held
for employees, downstairs. I had stayed late,
to attend, mostly just to see what the young
kid employees would be dressed as. As it
turned out, there was almost one of
everything you'd imagine in such a gathering:
Greek togas, Roman Gods, guys as girls, etc.
What I saw that night got me thinking.
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