in which I am saved from being predictable only by being absentminded
Because I have been blessed to find friends for whom bookstore browsing is a fun time and a totally acceptable thing to do as a tourist activity, I had the following conversations with my friend this weekend, in a recommended bookstore I hadn't made it to yet:
Me [after picking up Michael Chabon's Summerland]: Hey, I really liked this book.
My friend: Didn't you buy that book for me? I think that was you.
Me: Er, probably? Does anyone else buy you children's books?
Me [after picking up Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys]: I loved this book! I actually laughed out loud while reading it. (Thinks: maybe I should buy a copy for my friend?)
My friend: I liked it too!
Me [thinking 'never mind, then']: Oh, you read it?
My friend: You bought it for me.
Me: Oh, failpants! Why can't I remember anything today?
My friend: Well, you have given me a lot of books, over the years.
Which is true. But still. I keep thinking I should buy her a copy of Sunshine, because I think she'd like it, but I actually cannot remember whether I've already done so.
(And did I mention that my best friend never told me that she received that copy of Neverwhere I sent her, so finally I asked, just to make sure it hadn't gotten lost in the post, and she was all, "Er, yes. I really enjoyed it...the first time you gave it to me"? *facepalm* Although this must mean that we never had a conversation about it then, either, because I would have remembered that. I remember that we talked about the other books I'd sent her in that box.)
Me [after picking up Michael Chabon's Summerland]: Hey, I really liked this book.
My friend: Didn't you buy that book for me? I think that was you.
Me: Er, probably? Does anyone else buy you children's books?
Me [after picking up Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys]: I loved this book! I actually laughed out loud while reading it. (Thinks: maybe I should buy a copy for my friend?)
My friend: I liked it too!
Me [thinking 'never mind, then']: Oh, you read it?
My friend: You bought it for me.
Me: Oh, failpants! Why can't I remember anything today?
My friend: Well, you have given me a lot of books, over the years.
Which is true. But still. I keep thinking I should buy her a copy of Sunshine, because I think she'd like it, but I actually cannot remember whether I've already done so.
(And did I mention that my best friend never told me that she received that copy of Neverwhere I sent her, so finally I asked, just to make sure it hadn't gotten lost in the post, and she was all, "Er, yes. I really enjoyed it...the first time you gave it to me"? *facepalm* Although this must mean that we never had a conversation about it then, either, because I would have remembered that. I remember that we talked about the other books I'd sent her in that box.)