>>24725297
After the purchase of the tables, he mentioned he wanted to take a picture of the receipt, just in case. As he was getting out his phone, I thought about the humor and absurdity of the possibility of a picture of his penis popping up. I swear to you all, the picture of the penis was there. He later mentioned something about a urologist or dermatologist appointment that he never kept. That night, I thought, I understood feminism, for I reasoned, were I a girl, I'd feel endangered. Later I realized, I was in no danger, even if it was felt, so feminism eludes me still.
His wife, the manager, would have her employees wash her car- not me, but some disgusting ogre of a social case, for whom I'd feel bad to this day, if not for her disgusting demeanor. She threatened to fire me for not attending work on my day off, so the next business day I presented her with my resignation. This was in mid-December. I thought to be a good sport and keep working there til the end of the month, though I didn't have to. The store was now always full, unending lines of people buying cheap, shiny looking, categorically tacky Gustave Klimt notebooks. My last day working there, the 31st, I brought home made eggnog for everybody, no one had even a sip, and confessed my love for the girl whose beauty tricked me into applying for the job and working there in spite of the incompetence of the managers. She appreciated the gesture and politely refused.
The bookstore went on to go through an odd number of other instances of diversification, rebrandings, restructuring, and this year it finally closes down. I started reading by discovering it. The wares were always cheap, even the books. I've assembled a neat collection of GOLLANCZ science fiction masterworks ($1.25 per book), Woodsworth Complete Novels of James Joyce and Lovecraft and Sherlock stories and the like- $5 each. I've learned the importance of translators by purchasing English translations of Dostoevsky's short stories. All of those books are now at an apartment I no longer live in and I'm unsure if I'll ever get them back.