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| Closing time, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. |
Now, I know that to everything there is a season. Maybe the physical bookstore is the 8-track of the 21st century. Fun while it lasted, destined to become obsolete. But the closing of Borders ends an era.
Long ago and far away, going to Borders was a Kramy/Peters family ritual. If you've read this blog at all or actually know us in person, you are aware that my fellow blogger and I are NERDZ. None of the following should come as a surprise.
In our youth, the parental units would take me and my brother to Borders, often post-boring adult errand, as a bribe to keep us in line. We thought this was pretty awesome (re: nerdz). All of those books...there just for us to rifle through! Glorious. My parents had to feel like it was free babysitting. Each member of the family would happily splinter off to the section that interested them the most. Were you into sharks this week? Science section. Had you just seen The Lion King? CD section. Were you Dad? Newspaper and pastry at the in-house cafe.
Let's be clear, as a kid at Borders, I wasn't ever browsing for Joyce or skimming Dostoevsky. Nerdery had some limits. Tastes varied according to age but usually I was looking for something that, at this distance, feels faintly embarrassing.
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| "I thought the old lady dumped it into the ocean in the end? - Well baby, I went down and got it for you. - Aww, you shouldn't have!" |
Whew, I digress. Borders. As I grew up, reading interests evolved (thank God), but the store was always there to support that. In adulthood, Borders's extensive magazine section provided design inspiration for work. Or offered a free place to sit and read a book that I wasn't committed enough to buy. Ermm...forget that last bit. Sorry, Borders!
Maybe I'll eventually get into the Nook/Kindle phase (birthday's in June, people!), but until then I'll probably shift to Barnes & Noble. Holding an e-reader just doesn't seem to stack up against holding a real book with that paper smell.
Conveniently I just got a notice from Borders.com that my local branch is liquidating their stock NOW. And so, for old time's sake, away I go.
Oh, I'm so torn on this issue. On the one hand, bookstores = win. On the other, I can't help but remember the awesome indie video store I worked at in highschool and during college breaks, and how upset we all were when evil evil Blockbuster moved into town and drove us out of business. And how I quietly delighted a bit when Blockbuster (the corporation, not the individual workers) began to feel the heat from Netflix a few years later. At any rate, this Borders crisis will give You've Got Mail a fresh dimension.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, a certain person I know was bribed to go to a child therapist and talk about her feelings. The bribe was trip to Borders. And it worked.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I just went to the Borders in DC today, because guess what, it's closing, too. There used to be two within five blocks of each other and now there are none. It was a big reminder that books are mad expensive.
ReplyDelete@meg - I'm waiting for the movie about the mom & pop e-reader shop that gets pushed out of town by, I don't know, the apple store.