So, I'm at Borders yesterday...

[NoOneIsIllegal]

If you haven't heard, Borders bookstores is closing down. All 399 locations. There are talks of saving some jobs to Books-A-Million, but a potential 11,000+ jobs are about to be lost.

Anyway, I'm hitting up a local Borders to buy some cheap ass stuff (going out of business sales). I found The Origin of the Family... by Engels (yes, I'm aware it's dated and flawed, but it's classic and was cheap). I go up to the cashier, and I notice he keeps glancing at the title ("wUt a WeIrD tItLe?") and the author. He gives me the dirtiest look, and says in a rather rude way "going to read some commie literature?"

I'm pretty much taken back. This guy, along with 11,000 other people, are all being laid off. If anything, I'm thinking he needs to familiarize himself with such authors and ideas. I mean, I didn't go out of my way and ask "going to listen to some shitty deathcore?" (he was wearing a Job For A Cowboy shirt :thumbdown:)

How's that capitalism workin' for ya, son? Socialism is soOoOoOoo crazy, but 11,000 people being laid-off isnt!


Borders sucks anyway.

Hope you enjoyed my shitty rant. 3/10 I say.

[Apoi_Viitor]

I'm just surprised he even made the connection between Engels and communism.

[Obs]

Probably a libertarian.

[mykittyhasaboner]

interesting story. hope you told him off well.

i would have ripped his world view to shreds.....given the situation, he would have brought it on himself.

[#FF0000]

"GOING 2 REED SUM COMIE LITEACHUR?"

"Yeah 'cause capitalisms doing you so well isn't it?"

[#FF0000]

my mom works at borders. this closing down thing means that she gets to raid the Seattle's Best coffee thing they had so we have enough chai and green tea latte to last us til the revolution

[Il Medico]

Kinda glad I didn't get that job at Walden books a while back, applied right before Boarders announced they were closing all their locations. Hell, perhaps thats why I didn't get the job, why hire someone if you're closing in a few months. Probably should hope over there and see if I can find any cheap stuff though.

[Il Medico]

my mom works at borders. this closing down thing means that she gets to raid the Seattle's Best coffee thing they had so we have enough chai and green tea latte to last us til the revolution
You guys got free reign over a supply of rather good coffee and you took tea? Don't get me wrong, I love Chai Tea, but FREE COFFEE man.

[Leonid Brozhnev]

Borders closed down here a while ago. A few years back I over heard the staff working at the Starbucks in a Borders taking the piss out of one of my party for wearing a a frilly shirt and waistcoat... I mean, he totally deserved it.

[#FF0000]

You guys got free reign over a supply of rather good coffee and you took tea? Don't get me wrong, I love Chai Tea, but FREE COFFEE man.

I don't like their coffee for some reason and we had a limited time since we were basically looting the place anyway.

There's a "proper tea is theft" joke in here somewhere I think.

[¿Que?]

I don't know man, sometimes people want to be receptive to the idea of communism/socialism but have to play it off ironic because they are coming to an understanding of how wrong everything they've been taught actually is. Not saying it was the case this time, but something to consider.

[Susurrus]

When my mother checked out an Ayn Rand book from the library, the check-out man was a socialist and criticized her for it.

On another note, I'm surprised it was carrying something by Engels, I can't find anything leftist besides Chomsky, the Communist Manifesto and the Coming Insurrection in my local chain bookshops.

[La Comédie Noire]

Dude you have good shit at your Borders. Mine has a bunch of crap and the good crap isn't even 40% off yet. :glare:

[#FF0000]

Dude you have good shit at your Borders. Mine has a bunch of crap and the good crap isn't even 40% off yet. :glare:

Things probably won't go that low. It's a liquidation sale so it's really not going to go dirt cheap. I know people up here are just SHOCKED to go in and see that books still cost money.

[ZeroNowhere]

I recall having gone to a Borders a while ago, and they didn't have the Communist Manifesto. On the other hand, they did have a quite noticeably large stock of Twilight copies. Quality control.

[graymouser]

On another note, I'm surprised it was carrying something by Engels, I can't find anything leftist besides Chomsky, the Communist Manifesto and the Coming Insurrection in my local chain bookshops.
Penguin just re-issued The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, so it's actually to be expected at the moment. Bookstores frequently carry these things based on recent release. Dover's been doing a ton of releases too. I also find a good number of Haymarket and Verso books at local big box bookstores.

[Martin Blank]

"Going to read some commie literature?"

Yes, and I would recommend you do the same during your upcoming stretch of unemployment.

[L.A.P.]

I actually have been meaning to get that book since I recently discovered it. Seems really interesting.

[Le Socialiste]

My Borders seemed to carry quite a bit of leftist literature beyond Marx and Engels before it closed. Then again, I live near a university town, so perhaps there's a reason for that. I couldn't complain. :)

The guy in your story pisses me off, though. He's losing his job and he's criticizing communism? Perhaps he should be looking in the other direction - you know, the one with all the bankers.

[Angry Young Man]

I've decided henceforth I'm gonna hipster it up.

Why were you not at an independent bookshop?

[Il Medico]

I just realized that there are three book store within a mile of my house (A independent book shop, a Walden Books which will close soon, and a Books-a-Million). But I only ever go to the Books-a-million (I mean they give you a comfy chair and let you read books you haven't bought while drinking coffee, why go anywhere else?)

[Comrade J]

I didn't even know there were Borders in the US. Here in the UK they were closed down ages ago, really gutting because my local Borders would be the first place in the city I'd head when arriving in town. Now we still have Waterstones, which is a very good bookshop, but they're never as big as Borders were.

[Magón]

I've decided henceforth I'm gonna hipster it up.

Why were you not at an independent bookshop?

You'd be surprised how many Hipsters visited Borders. At least there were a bunch in the San Francisco one.

[Susurrus]

There is a wonderful used bookshop I go to that has anarchist and communist sections.

[Rusty Shackleford]

It is a really good book near the end.

the anthropology is a bit odd though. at least the language used in it is off putting to some extent.

"savagery, barbarism, civilization"

but it wasnt in the context of race or racism. it is just VERY inaccessible to anyone unfamiliar with history or marxism.

[Angry Young Man]

You'd be surprised how many Hipsters visited Borders. At least there were a bunch in the San Francisco one.

Poseurs.

Unless hipsters are pretend bohemians and I'm hot shit.

But yea, probably the same people who write their screenplay in Starbucks: not the done thing. It is poetry on paper in a small cafe. And you lose points if your booklet doesn't have a William Morris-style pattern.

[o well this is ok I guess]

I don't get it
Why is Borders going under while Chapters Indigo still seem fine

[Fulanito de Tal]

That shit irritates me: people that hate communism so abstain from reading about it. How can a person hate something if they don't know what it is? So stupid. It's good to keep people like this around if you're into putting self-interest above the interests of others. They are easily manipulated.

"You know, terrorists have been using trojan worm viruses to infiltrate personal computers, take the owner's identity, and then commit terrorist act with the stolen identity. Norton, McCafee, AVG, and all the leading anti-viruses can't even find it because it's in Arabic. The worst part is that you can get it from shopping at Amazon or sending Fox News articles to others."
"Oh no! What can I do? Fuck!"
"I know a guy, he's a TEA Party member...you know, a real American, that does this for cheap...in comparison to what the other guys are charging. Here's his number."
<hands over card of brother's computer shop>
"Tell him I sent you and that you're a TEA Party member. He'll give you a discount."
<Guy get's ripped off for nothing. Also, the IT tech invents more problems the computer is having while it's there and rips him off even more.>

[Chambered Word]

I mean, I didn't go out of my way and ask "going to listen to some shitty deathcore?" (he was wearing a Job For A Cowboy shirt :thumbdown:)

maybe you should have.

-core genres tend to be awful.

[Lyev]

even this one?
http://www.omahafastfoods.com/demo1/images//Fresh/Canned%20Goods%20&%20Soups/Tuna%20&%20Seafood/Starkist_%20Albacore%20Sandwich-Ready%20Tuna%20Salad,%203%20Oz.jpg

[Chambered Word]

yes, only Biebercore is good.

I will start the first Biebercore band.

[Apoi_Viitor]

yes, only Biebercore is good.

I will start the first Biebercore band.

Step aside Dimmu Bordiga, Revleft has a new musical project...

[praxis1966]

I just realized that there are three book store within a mile of my house (A independent book shop, a Walden Books which will close soon, and a Books-a-Million). But I only ever go to the Books-a-million (I mean they give you a comfy chair and let you read books you haven't bought while drinking coffee, why go anywhere else?)

I used to work at Books-A-Million... Fucking hated it. Go into their psychology section where you're less likely to find books by Freud, Jung, and Maslow than you are "Men are from Mars"... Go into their religion section. The only thing they have is Bibles. Everything else gets stuck in "new age" or "occult," the later of which is incidentally where I spotted the books written by the Dalai Lama once.

I worked in the coffee bar as a barista, and once upon a time the CEO came in there and made us throw out all the glasses we used for layered caffe breves because, "Who ever heard of a dadgone glass of coffee? That's the stupidest thang I ever seen in my life." (He's from Mississippi, where the company originated.)

[OhYesIdid]

I've decided henceforth I'm gonna hipster it up.

Why were you not at an independent bookshop?

Uhh, why not read it online (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/index.htm)?

[La Comédie Noire]

Reading online can be a pain in the ass and I don't like going to sleep with Marx's words burned on my retina. :lol:

[Obs]

Reading online can be a pain in the ass and I don't like going to sleep with Marx's words burned on my retina. :lol:
Fucking liberal armchair "revolutionary" scum.

[thesadmafioso]

I don't much care for borders, every one I have been in labels their Russian history section as being Russian/Post Soviet history or something along those lines. You know, like the Soviet Union just sort of didn't happen.

[Il Medico]

I used to work at Books-A-Million... Fucking hated it. Go into their psychology section where you're less likely to find books by Freud, Jung, and Maslow than you are "Men are from Mars"... Go into their religion section. The only thing they have is Bibles. Everything else gets stuck in "new age" or "occult," the later of which is incidentally where I spotted the books written by the Dalai Lama once.

I worked in the coffee bar as a barista, and once upon a time the CEO came in there and made us throw out all the glasses we used for layered caffe breves because, "Who ever heard of a dadgone glass of coffee? That's the stupidest thang I ever seen in my life." (He's from Mississippi, where the company originated.)
Yeah, the relgion section is fairly shit. I remember mine once actually was fairly diverse, Qu'rans, Torahs, and a whole bunch of stuff from other religions. One day they just basically shifted to "all christian all the time." Never really noticed the psychology section though, probably because I don't really ever read anything but philosophy books and fiction.

[Angry Young Man]

Uhh, why not read it online (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/index.htm)?

Can never focus and I like bookshops.

[praxis1966]

Yeah, the relgion section is fairly shit. I remember mine once actually was fairly diverse, Qu'rans, Torahs, and a whole bunch of stuff from other religions. One day they just basically shifted to "all christian all the time." Never really noticed the psychology section though, probably because I don't really ever read anything but philosophy books and fiction.

Yeah, there was other stuff that bugged me, too. I never could figure out why books by Anne Coulter belonged in their political science section but I found Marx in the literature section... Or why the entire general history section was the same size as the military history section.

Then of course there was the small matter of them firing people constantly for stealing... Turns out the GM was embezzling money, deleting transactions from the computers to cover his tracks, and then firing workers to explain the shortfalls in inventory.

EDIT: Almost forgot... One night the regional manager was in town and it took three of our managers until 9 pm to convince her we should close down early because there was a hurricane coming. No BS.

[Il Medico]

Uhh, why not read it online (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/index.htm)?
I never got why anyone would want read a book online or how they could bear it. I read a particularly long academic journals and my eyes are bringing up charges of attempted murder. How one could stand reading an entire e-book without going blind is beyond me.

And besides real books are just better.

[Angry Young Man]

Did Borders feel weird to everybody else? Blackwells is the same (that'll only mean anything to British members).

Also, does it reflect badly on me that my response to hipsters being in a chain was derision?

[Blackscare]

Well, in response to the OP's bewilderment, lots of people who have worked at borders or the like (I did, for a brief while) will tell you that that guy probably saw it more as a godsend than anything else. I know that if I was in his shoes, and I qualified for unemployment or could get another shitty job somewhere else, I'd probably relish their financial ruin. Of course, thats a very masochistic and unproductive perspective on it, but that's alienation for you.



As for sales, I think it will hit around 40% if not more. I went in there a few days ago because I was in the area anyway and bought a Zizek book which I promptly lost at work. At that point it was only 10% off, but I chatted with a rather sullen looking cashier who told me that if I came back 2-3 weeks it would be much cheaper. Obviously they want to make as much money back as they can, so they stagger these things. They count on impatient schmucks like me going in there and convincing themselves that if they don't pounce now, a horde of Zizek fans will buy up all the good shit before they return.

[Obs]

Zizek book which I promptly lost at work.

Good call

[the last donut of the night]

I don't know man, sometimes people want to be receptive to the idea of communism/socialism but have to play it off ironic because they are coming to an understanding of how wrong everything they've been taught actually is. Not saying it was the case this time, but something to consider.

this is pretty true, at least it's how i felt about learning about marxism. it's a long process anyhow