Another Week at the Bookstore

• A customer called right at closing to tell us that her daughter accidentally threw away her retainer in our cafe trash can.  Would we mind digging it out?  Of course we don't mind.  We found it, wrapped it in a paper towel, and put it in the lost and found. O.K. maybe we minded a bit because the whole thing was pretty gross.
• A woman walked in with a huge walking stick.  It wasn't like this was a cane, or an obvious assist for her, it was more like she walked out to her car and saw a big long branch in the driveway and said, "Hmmm...I think I'll walk around with this stick today."  And so she did.  She came to Barnes & Noble with her big ol' stick and propped it up against a cushy chair while she read.
• I stayed late one night with the carpet cleaners and got so involved with a project that I wound up staying until 11am the next day (a 16 hour day.)  How fun it was to be so excited about moving sections around a bookstore!
• We called the police with a license plate number when we watched a customer who was obviously drunk (at 10am) leave the store with his young daughter and drive out of the parking lot. I don't know what happened after that, but any way you look at it it isn't good for the poor little girl.
• A customer asked for books on "farms" but when the bookseller took him to the agriculture section he was puzzled because he could not find any books he was looking for.  Turns out the customer was actually saying "firearms."  
• I became addicted to Green Tea Frappuccinos with a shot of Raspberry.  It looks like something you pull out of your garbage disposal but it is DE-lightful!  A cafe server, Megan, recommended it to me, so we have started calling it "The Dirty Megan."  I'd like to start a trend, so please go into your local B&N and ask for a Dirty Megan, just for laughs!
• Today we had to ask a customer to leave the store.  This is not our favorite thing to do, but she brought her pet into the store with her.  Now, I have been known to overlook the occasional tiny, quiet dog, but (Candy- you might want to skip this part) this customer had a pet mouse.  It too, was tiny and quiet, but for the love, who would bring a MOUSE into a place of business that serves FOOD?  Other questions I have regarding this:  Why would anyone purchase a mouse to have as a pet?  Why would you take it with you while you shop?  Why would you carry it around in your hand while reading books in the Current Affairs section?  So many questions.
• We moved the Science Fiction section.  Never in my life have I seen so many upset people.  We had to keep assuring them that it will all be o.k. and even better when it is done.  You will LOVE it, we kept telling them.  Still, they were pretty grouchy about it.