Booked

I was in Chapters this afternoon, browsing and losing Porsche Guy (who, whenever he couldn’t see me, phoned me.  It got embarrassing after a while!).  I love to read, so Chapters is one of my favourite places to spend a couple of hours.  But I couldn’t get out of there fast enough today.

I was looking at calendars (yes, the 2009 calendars are already displayed.  Christmas shopping anyone?) and lamenting the fact that there didn’t appear to be any poodle calendars.  Poodles are my preferred dogs at the moment, but they have to be the standard size ones, not those wimpy toys or teacups.  PG got me a standard poodle calendar a few years ago, so he started telling me how hard that calendar had been for him to find, that he had finally discovered it in a pet shop, and that maybe I should go for a calendar of a smaller dog, like a Westie.  No, I said, I liked poodles.

Suddenly, a Chapters employee magically appeared beside me, offering the comment that perhaps a toy poodle might be more to my liking.  Being a person who generally responds when spoken to, I told him that I really preferred the bigger dogs, not the ones that one can carry in one’s purse.  Well, he replied, what about a poodle cross?  After all, breeders cross poodles with all kinds of dogs because poodles are so smart and the intelligence of the resulting puppies would be increased.  Like a Labradoodle?  said I.  Yes, said he, though Labs are pretty smart on their own.  He then wrote down for me the name of a program to google on YouTube where I could learn all about training dogs properly.  I thanked him and was just about to take my leave when…

He segued into, “Are you looking for anything in particular?”  I answered the standard, “Not really, just browsing.”  I moved away slightly.

Apparently, that wasn’t good enough.  He proceeded to show me the “best” table to browse at, and to show me his own personal choice for The Best Book Evar.  Still being nice, I asked him why it was so good, to which he proclaimed, “Because it changed my life!”

Time to leave…but no.  He continued on, explaining exactly how the book changed his outlook on life, reading aloud several passages and asking me to read a few others to myself.  At one point I commented that this book seemed to be a reaction against the 90s, the Me Decade.  He replied, quite seriously, “Absolutely! This book was written in the nineties, and people always have a really strong reaction to it.  I’ve lent it out to so many of my friends!”

He was actually waving the book in my face by then, and I didn’t know quite what to do.  Fortunately, another Chapters customer had been listening to part of this conversation, and she stepped up then with a scowl on her face and said, “Get it from the library if you want to read it.  I only got to page 50 of it.  The author had made his point by then and I couldn’t stand him going on and on about it!”

The Chapters employee gleefully turned to her.  ”Yes!  Everybody has such a strong reaction!  You either love it or hate it!”

They exchanged a few more words about their differing opinions of the book, so I grabbed PG’s arm and said quietly, “I have to get out of here right now.”  

Now, I’m impressed that Chapters hired someone who is so passionate about books, who goes out of his way to tell customers about books that he thinks they may enjoy.  But a transition from standard poodles to life-changing philosophy?  That I can’t quite follow.  And I don’t remember the name of the book.