barnes & noble fun

It was a relatively quiet night at Barnes & Noble. Usually it's at least moderately crowded, full of people like me who have nothing better to do, or people who think Starbucks is trendy so they get all dressed up to go there. Anyway, my point is that a lot of these people, for one reason or another, decided not to show up to the nation's most overpriced bookseller tonight, so I actually got to sit in a big comfy chair.

It's been quite a while since I've been to Barnes & Noble and actually had the privilege of putting my rear on something cushy. However, the only two available chairs were pushed right up against each other, arm to arm. I think they're usually facing each other with a table between them for a nice buffer zone. I guess the previous occupants of said chairs weren't interested in the buffer zone. Since I was too lazy to move anything, the chairs remained as is.

Everything was fine for 10 minutes or so, but then my calm was disturbed by a nervous-looking skinny blonde guy in his mid/late thirties. He asked if anybody was sitting in the chair next to me, and I said no, the chairs were like this when I got here and I just didn't bother to move them. So he sat down and began loudly slurping his frappuccino while he got situated. He started reading a packet of Xeroxed papers, and every minute or so he either sighed or huffed loudly, as if he was in total disgust of whatever he'd just read, or at the fact that he was having to read it at all. I was nervous that he would at some point try to make conversation about whatever he was reading. I was reading a book called I Kissed Dating Goodbye, so my plan, if he did try to make small talk, was just to hold up the book and point at the cover, if necessary.

He never did talk, though, and finally, after about five excruciating minutes, he got up and made his way toward the bathroom area. As soon as he was out of sight, I bolted to the cash register and bought the book. I didn't necessarily want to own a copy, but I was interested and I'd already gotten to the middle of chapter two. Is $15 for a book worth avoiding the anxiety of encountering an awkward social situation? My answer is yes!