I'm With the Banned!

I’ve worked in retail for over 30 years in one place or another. And as a manager in one form or another for almost as long.

I’ve ALWAYS had a very firm belief: It’s not about you. Let me explain.

• When a customer talks to you…no.
• When a customer is in your vicinity…no.
• When you put on the nametag…no.
• When you are on the company’s time…no.
• When you can be identified as a part of the company…no. It’s not about you.

That customer doesn’t want to know about your schedule. Doesn’t want to hear about the bad boss. Doesn’t need to know what staff members are dating. Doesn’t need to commiserate about your sinuses.

Doesn’t need to know you ran out of gas this morning…. partied too long last night…or that you have to work six more hours until you can finally go home.

They don’t need to understand your views on religion. Abortion. Hunting. Income taxes. Terrorist attacks. Global warming. Presidential races and decisions.

It’s. Not. About. You.

I’m NOT saying you can’t have an opinion. That would be ridiculous. Of course you do. I AM saying that, unless your job is being a political pundit- keep it to yourself. If you are directly asked a hot button question then become a master of the polite response.

I learned about opinions when I worked in the bookstore

It helped that we sold books. Information that is timely. A business that thrived on something for everyone, regardless of who that everyone might be. Magazines that tracked the news. Tell-all’s about this or that celeb.

Customers and the passionate browsers reacted to opinions and printed pages that didn’t mesh with their views and opinions. I’ve seen biographies get re-shelved into fiction when the author got a bit too creative with their own story.

I remember stores in our chain getting bomb threats because of The Satanic Verses, a fiction book by Rushdie. I came into work one day to see that a copy of The Queen of the Damned (Anne Rice/fiction) had been grabbed through the mall gate and gutted- papers strewn about.

I worked in the bookstore when Madonna’s ‘SEX’ book came out and our company was picketed.

True Story Time: This Happened to Me

In the early 1990s the mom down the street reported me to the PTA and the Girl Scouts as an unfit volunteer, and unfit mother.

Why?

Because I worked for Waldenbooks, and we sold adult magazines and Madonna’s book. The PTA was nonplussed- I got to remain the membership chairperson. (No one wants that job- so they weren’t too choosy.) The Girl Scouts had no issue with me- and no one else to be the Brownie leader.

The mom took her daughter out of the troop and broke off contact with me and my daughters. But first she stood at the bottom of my yard and beat up my mailbox- screaming at the top of her lungs- that she was going to get the Children’s Youth Services to take my children.

Because I worked in a bookstore and she didn’t like what we sold.

Accusations and Questions

I remember OJ’s book “I Want to Tell You” coming out and swallowing hard when someone asked me if I thought he was guilty.

“We are selling a lot of this,” I would say, “People are eager to read what he has to say. Would you like the receipt in the bag?”

Rush Limbaugh was the radio personality du jour. “I heard on the radio that you don’t carry Limbaugh!” would be the indignant statement on the phone.

"We do carry it, and I would be glad to hold it for you. We close at 9:30."

Or- “Why isn’t Ann Coulter’s book up front where everyone can see it?”

"It isn’t a bestseller yet, it was just released today. I can hold a copy for you- we close at 9:30."

Do you have the Koran?

"Yes, and it’s on the top shelf so as not to offend."

Do you carry Mein Kampf?

"Yes." (And, did you know, it’s one of the most-stolen books in a bookstore?)

Last Temptation of Christ?

"Yes. In fiction, not religion."

Do you have the *Starr Report? (* OK kids, this was the political debacle of the time, the one where my Brownie Girl Scout daughters asked me about oral sex thanks to the impeachment drive for President "Let's Keep it in Your Pants" Clinton.)

"Yes."

Carrying the new Catechism?

"Yes; hard cover or paperback?"

Anarchist’s Cookbook?

"Yes. Well, we did but it was stolen."

My position

What did I think about these books? Wasn’t I ashamed for selling them? No. No, I wasn’t.

I may not have read them (I thought The Satanic Verses was hideous and life is too short to wade through that book. And I wish Mr. Rushdie a quick recovery) but they made sales plan for me. They kept my bills paid, and the bills of our employees paid. And in a dying steel town that was vital.

Like Bridges of Madison County (hated it- overrated) they were books. Someone else wrote them and I sold them. Someone corporate purchased them and allocated them to my store and I sold them. The worst I would do is not suggest them.

But would I put them in your hand – along with one or two other titles you might enjoy- if you asked for them. In a wicked heartbeat. And without a word of my personal opinion.

It’s. Not. About. What. I. Think.

As a manager, as a leader, I believed -and still do believe- that I had to set the example. I needed to play by my own rules. Keep those opinions to myself. Don’t – for the love of all that’s good, holy, and as per the finally posted schedule!- Don’t make it uncomfortable at work. Don’t cause drama.

And now: Book Banning and Lawsuits

That’s why this is so hard. Too many years of being quiet. Too many years of keeping my opinions private. Too many ‘reply all’ emails deleted. Too many ‘Share if you agree’ Facebook posts glossed over. Too many lapel pins I’ve pretended not too see.

73% of the groups orchestrating book bans have been formed since 2021, as opposed to calls for banning made before 2021. Those earlier banning attempts were usually one or two parents with objections to a particular title. Unlikely to make the news.

That has changed, and changed dramatically. Now it is more common to have a coordinated effort to ban multiple titles, categories, or points of view. Coordinated by small groups that study the local laws and flood the local leaders with nuisance requests, one after the other after the other after the other.

Bookstores in Texas are dealing with a non-win, impossible to execute, improbable to believe law that is looming before them. Not only do they need to go through every book they sell to determine is there is any mention of sex (and there is no guidance here about what that means), but next April

"...all booksellers and other book vendors must submit to the Texas Education Agency a list of every book they've ever sold to a teacher, librarian, or school that qualifies for a sexual rating and is in active use. The stores also are required to issue recalls for any sexually explicit books. If the Agency finds that a bookstore has been incorrectly rating books, it can be banned from doing business with charter schools or school districts. The Agency can also override booksellers' ratings."

Yes- take the time to read the article above. By next April they are expected to recall any book THAT THEY EVER SOLD to a teacher, librarian, or school and that is in active use (because they will know that how?) and that means they need to give them back the money they received during the sale.

If they don't rate in a way the state agrees with, they will be overruled. Also- the state isn't providing the rubric by which they will decide that, so good luck there.

Could YOUR business handle that? Carry on your existing business while reviewing the composition of everything you sell, make up a rating based on vagaries, then recall all you ever sold?

It's Libraries, Too

And, in the case of the Patmos Library in Michigan, the sole library of the community was defunded due to a group seeking to ban books. Two library directors were harassed to the point they left the position and the town. Staffers have been heckled and a local Facebook page created by a vocal few led to yard signs in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS!

The library has been defunded. A GoFundMe has been started to try and extend the library presence in this community, author Nora Roberts (which is about as unlikely a plot twist that you might find in any Hallmark movie) stepped in to help for 12 months, but it isn't looking good long-term.

So now

So now, unlike when it was my small store and one book every few years, now I will speak out. Now; I have an opinion.

• Books are for mirrors and doors.
• Mirrors to reflect ourselves and doors to take us to new places.
• Not every book is for every person.
• Not every book is for every age.
• No one makes anyone buy a book.
• No one makes anyone read a book.

What I want to say to those that are part of the LARGEST NUMBER of book banning efforts EVER: Stop inciting anger, hate, and violence.

In fact, put your time and effort into writing your own book. Get it published. Have it sold at your local store. Have it stocked in your local library. Bookstores and libraries don’t have to believe you are in the right to carry your book. They will do so because they believe you have a right to your opinion. Each day they make the decision and can say to themselves: It’s. Not. About. You.

What YOU Can Do

• You can support your local bookstore by shopping there and not on Amazon.
• If you simply MUST buy online, then use Bookshop.org; you can choose to have your purchase directly benefit a local store (or maybe one in Texas or Florida?),and every year Bookshop.org distributes part of their profits to indie bookstores all across the country.
• Go to your local comic book shop and relive your youth by buying some old favorites (usually very reasonably priced- they get tons of back issues!), and find some new things to read. Comic shops are having their own sales impact from book banning and graphic novel distrust.
• You can support your local library by visiting in, getting a library card, and borrowing books, audiobooks, games, puzzles, and even wall art and toys!
• Get involved in as many ways as you feel comfortable.
• Find out more here

Because; what happens in Texas isn't likely to stay in Texas. By the time we realize it, it will be too late.

~

Books describe my world and my life:

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