Snippitts of Illusions

Orders.
We had many this morning here at work.
A total of nine, which is alot.
Behind every order there is a person. Or a bookstore.
And I'm fascinated by them all.
You can tell alot about a person by the books they read.
You can also tell a little bit about them by where they live.
Combine the two and there is alot of information to be gleaned.
All from a simple book order.
Now I doubt I'll ever meet any of these people in real life.
One never knows, but we get so many orders from some many people every months that I have my doubts.
I'm enthralled with the places and people though.
I'd love to visit the simple villages in britain where people order from us.
I'd also love to visit the less touristy side of London.
I'd like to journey through the backwoods of Minnesota, and the smokey mountains of Kentucky.
All of these places have ordered from us.
At the same time I wonder what they are thinking about us.
If they envision a rickety old book store in some tiny town in utah.
Whether or not they'd come in to peruse the books if they some how found their way up here.
Every order has a story.
Sometimes, when I'm fortunant enough, I found out a little about the story, through email or through phone conversation with the person making the order.
It's easy to remain distanct from people when you don't know them.
But I feel a common bond with all the customers who order from us through the internet.
The bond of knowledge, and loving books.
Every person who orders from us has at least the desire for more knowledge in common.
We are all closer than you'd think.

posted by F.G. Shaw @ 3:06 PM