{"id":33276,"date":"2021-05-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33276"},"modified":"2021-05-17T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T12:00:00","slug":"and-we-all-mask-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33276","title":{"rendered":"And we all mask on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

In our shops in the woods, in the towns, everywhere<\/p>\n\n\n

Through the long, long pandemic, booksellers were there.<\/p>\n\n\n

With their hands always chapped and their masks on tight,<\/p>\n\n\n

Selling books in the daytime, filling orders at night.<\/p>\n\n\n

The politicians howl, and the customers growl,<\/p>\n\n\n

But we all mask on.*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n

A tiny population gets their shots right away. But our staffs still wait, so closed many stay.<\/p>\n\n\n

We cry \u201ctoo scary, too soon, too hard!\u201dAnd deliver all the purchases to the customer’s yard.<\/p>\n\n\n

The numbers keep climbing, and our savings long gone,<\/p>\n\n\n

But we all mask on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n

We finally open, and a shopper peeks in. We cry \u201cWelcome back!\u201d and more people drop in.<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cHi friends!\u201d we greet. \u201cLong time, no see!\u201d And we offer staff picks and some local herb tea.<\/p>\n\n\n

They ignore social distance and our stickers on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n

But we all mask on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n

A grandpa comes by, sniffs-snuffs at our sign. \u201cI smell restrictions, but I\u2019m just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had my shot,\u201d Grandpa says with a grin. \u201cTake down this notice, open up, let me in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

And he browses and he touches all the merch on the shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n

But we all mask on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

An internet troll tunnels up in our feed, and a sales rep calls to see what we might need.<\/p>\n\n\n

We think \u201cWhat a day! What a year it\u2019s been.\u201d (and we know that they shopped with their Prime since then.) <\/em>But we all mask on<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n

In a shop in your town, bookselling goes on. Not waiting ’til the day when the risk is all gone.<\/p>\n\n\n

We open doors and windows, let the breeze blow through.<\/p>\n\n\n

Til the spring pollen count makes a staffer<\/p>\n\n\n

AACHOOO!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

She blows and she sneezes and the whole store freezes\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n

And the manager calls  \u201cGet a test, right away! Take your sweater, take your lunchbox, leave for the day. We\u2019ll call you tomorrow, and again after three. We\u2019ll cover your shifts, and your calls, you’ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

And the customers grumble, and they mumble and roar. Staffer then points toward the still open door:<\/p>\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve stayed in your homes and you\u2019ve all been well. But me? I was working and I\u2019m tired as hell. And now you\u2019re complaining, and you won\u2019t wear a mask? Why not comply with this one little ask?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Her boss gently soothes: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, don\u2019t fuss. Take Sunday off, have a day that\u2019s for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Staff gulp and they gobble and they sigh with delight. They read all day and they sleep one whole night. When the Monday alarm sounds just before dawn,<\/p>\n\n\n

We\u2019ll head back to work with our face masks on<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

*today’s post is both a response to changing CDC guidelines and an homage to the award winning Bear series written by Karma Wilson and perfectly illustrated by Jane Chapman, published Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Not only is this beloved series a staple on bookseller shelves, but Bear’s perseverance while surrounded by others who simply do what they want in spite of his wishes is an example to shopkeepers everywhere. (also, they rhyme better than I do.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A booksellers ode to the children’s classic “Bear Snores On” in response to changing CDC mask guidelines. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}