Finally

In the world of working in bookshops, did you know that there are rarely opportunities to READ a book? This must be one of the biggest myths about the trade.
Did you know that a LARGE part of the job is drudgery? It's dirty and heavy lifting and very sore feet.
Not that I have anything against a bit of hard work.
Some customers are so nice. They seek you out, they appreciate your recommendations, they smile and converse in a friendly way. Other ones astound with their rudeness. It is very difficult to have a pleasant time with someone talking on a mobile phone during a purchase, or listening intently to an ipod. Have you ever been on the receiving end of a thrown credit card as payment? Can you believe that an adult would think that was an acceptable way to interact?
People who work in shops often do it because they are passionate about the products they sell. Go figure.
Anyway, that's NOT what I was going to blah on about.
I wanted to say that if you came to Dymocks yesterday to pick up your gorgeous copy of the MEET ME AT MIKES book, you would have been sadly disappointed. I'm sorry, but there was nothing that I could do about it.
At the beginning of every month (last week of the current month) there are a slew of new releases. Every publisher brings out a whole range of new, shiny, beautiful books by authors known and unknown, on subjects far ranging and diverse. EVERY MONTH! Bookshops are a very busy place to be at that time. Sometimes there are 100s of one title. Or maybe even 100s of a number of different titles.
Our shop has a BIG back room, with staff involved full time with receiving, unpacking, labelling and preparing books to make their debut out on the floor. It's so full-on. The boxes fill all the available space in the backroom and spill in 6 ft high piles into the tearoom and hallway.
So what I wanted to say was...yesterday there was NO ROOM to even deliver the boxes of Meet Me At Mikes books. Today there was. BUT, even though I agitated and begged and cajoled the lovely, wonderful, talented staff in the backroom to print the labels and unpack the boxes, even though I helped to label other stuff and quickly dashed books out into the shop to make way, even then....I had to wait until after the lunchtime rush. And do it myself (with some help especially from Kim and Steve). Altogether the distribution company that are in charge of getting the MIKES books to us sent a delivery of 52 boxes. And would you believe the SECOND LAST box had it??!! That's a LOT of lifting, unpacking, labelling and squashing of empty boxes.
So just before I went home, I lovingly placed all copies on a shelf, in pride of place, bought my copy and high-tailed it out of there.
Just for you. It's ready for you now. Go and get it!