Today’s post is in honor of the First Buy Indie Day brought to us by the folks at IndieBound. A great idea whose time has come. Everyone is encouraged to buy a book at their local independent bookseller on May 1st.
In honor of this day I wanted to share an anctedote from my dog’s vet appointment Wednesday. Poor little Inky had been struggling with some stitches that he scratched off, and was now dealing with six staples in his neck. These staples and his very vigorous left hind foot necessitated him wearing one of those Elizabethan cones around his head for two weeks. After a day of the cone, it wasn’t funny anymore, it was just plain sad. So I was practically bouncing into the vet’s office late on Wednesday for staple removal and freedom from the cone, eager to get my happy little dog back.
Well, the vet wanted to share a story with me. He’s talking and *not* taking the staples out. Internally, I’m tapping my foot, and he can sense my impatience. He continues, saying, "You’ll like this story." I am dubious at best.
It turns out his ten-year old son bought a friend a gift card to the Flying Pig. As the birthday boy was opening presents, there were some, "Oh that’s cool," when the Wii game got opened. Someone thought the soccer ball "pretty decent." But when this kid opened his last present, the $20 gift card to the Flying Pig, the kids went nuts, all saying variations of "Oh my God, that’s the coolest store." "I love that place." "You can get the best books there." The birthday party then turned into a book group, with the kids talking about what they’ve been reading that they liked, and what they were looking forward to reading this summer. And helping their friend make a list of books he could get with his gift card.
With the staples still in the dog’s neck, I was heartened that the best part of this boy’s party wasn’t the cool gizmo, it was the prospect of books and talking about them with his friends. Just know that for every story like this booksellers hear, there are far more that we don’t. We do important work, and there’s nothing that makes me happier than a bunch of kids sitting around talking about books.
Happy Buy Indie Day!