Our first foray into the wild world of employment taught us the importance of lying. Every day, we’d tell two whoppers, over and over. First we’d declare, looking the customer in the eye, that the pastries we sold weren’t fattening. Then we’d say, yes, of course we’re Danish.
The pastries were filled with butter and sugar, and we’re quite Hungarian-mutt. Not a drop of Danish anything, unless you count the occasional craving for aebleskiver.
Working with customers is rough. People who seem perfectly normal aren’t.
Two middle-aged ladies wandered in to a branch of a well-known booksellers. Helmet-coiffed and enthusiastically made up, they marched straight up to the counter.
“We’re looking for Caring for the Suicidal.”
I looked down at the grubby keyboard. My fingers tapped and there it was: Caring for the Suicidal. It was in print, but we would have to order it.
“How long?” the second lady asked.
“Two weeks.”
They looked at each other and then at me. “Too late,” they chimed and walked out.
When they say the truth is stranger than fiction, well, Anthony Bonanza’s story proves it…
- Tales of a book-monkey: As the big chain book stores gear up for Christmas, failed bookseller Anthony Bonanza relives his own high street trauma: psychological abuse, unreasonable behaviour and insane demands. He didn’t like the customers, either…
