bookstore moment

Disclaimer: I can be a little snooty as a bookstore customer, having worked in a bookstore before.

The store clerk did some looking up on the computer. “Do you know the name of the book,” she asked. I shook my head. “Sorry.” Whatever it was, I already knew they didn’t have it--I’d already checked on the shelf. She reaffirmed this.

“Is it even out yet,” I asked.

“And you don’t know the title?” She said this a little disapprovingly.

“I’m sure you can just look up his name and find out,” I suggested.

“What’s his last name,” she asked.

“Um, you had it under L,” I said.

“I mean, is Li his last name, or Young Lee, or Lee..?”

“I think it’s Lee.”

She typed it in and scrolled through the list, shaking her head.
“It’s just such a common name,” she said, still shaking her head.

What? A common name?

All this time, her co-worker was hovering behind her, ready to jump in and help if it was needed.

“Anything I can do,” he asked.

“The last book he write was Breaking the Alabaster Jar,” I offered, trying to be helpful. “I know you used to have that one. I don’t want that one.” She found that title in the inventory.

“She doesn’t want that one,” the co-worker said. “She wants the next one.”

“Should I look on the internet?” It was a good thing I had time.

Turns out the co-worker couldn’t tell if it released as a book, or just a CD or combination of both. So I said I’d do some more research. I didn’t think they were up for calling their rep or the publisher for more info.

The female clerk was still scrolling through the inventory list, shaking her head, and her co-worker looked on.

“It’s just such a common name,” she told him. And he muttered some sort of agreement.

I’m sure they didn’t hear the irony in that statement. Here in what has historically been the whitest state in the union, they’re saying a name like Li-Young Lee is so common as to make their work harder.