Bookstore Rant
You know what. I hate going into comic shops and finding kids reading manga/comics/books that they have no intention of buying. I know it's part of the geek culture that you can, and some stores actively encourage it so that you get a better feeling for the 'community' which is great. What better way to accidently meet a fellow fan (in person) then by the bookshelves? Because of this I try and bite my tongue when I see some 14 year old pick up the latest volume of such-and-such, plonk themselves down on the floor in front of the shelves and start reading.
But what I want to do is kick them hard in the ribs, tell them to buy it and then read it somewhere else or put it down and come back when they have the money.
Reasons for this knee-jerk kicking reaction?
1) It's a book store, not a library. A place to sell merchandise. S - e - l - l. Go to the library if you have no intention of buying it. Don't cry to me about having to wait or not having the money. People who do this have another rant waiting especially for them.
2) I'm there to buy myself a nice, shiny new copy of whatever-it-is, not something that has been bent and thumbed through by grubby hands 5 times over in just a day.
3) People glued to the floor reading block the access to the shelves and tend to not move for extreme periods of time while I just may be on a time-limit. (eg. someone on lunch-break vs. someone on school holidays)
4) The latest volume of something has just come out so it's time to go grab it! We're in the store and... oh poo, looks like they've sold out already, there's none on the shelves. No, wait... those people over there huddled in a group on the floor giggling are reading the last copy of it... and they're only on page 3.
I think scanlations and fansubs are partially to blame for this. Don't get me wrong, I think that they serve a purpose and when used properly are good for both the community and industry, but they've also fostered a 'why pay for it when I can get it for free' attitude in asses and kidlets. The asses know better but don't care. The kidlets just think it's their due.
So the 'free' attitude of the internet bleeds over into the bookstores where you end up with with people who have no intention of buying anything standing about and me feeling like a cantakerous old lady wishing for a really nice leather purse and a quick case of senility so I can hit them over the head in top granny form.
This rant was brought to you by "Arg I Feel Old" and "Damn Whippersnappers!" with a slight donation from "Move You Idiot!"
/rant