The Barnes and Noble Caper

[Satzaroo]

The Barnes And Noble Caper


My wife and I had been without a car for over two months--thanks to a defective computer cluster module and copious body work to repair the damage that our car sustained in a minor accident. So when we finally got a loaner car last week, my wife, who hates to be cooped up, scooped me up and off we went to an undisclosed destination an hour away.  If I had known that we would have landed at a mall with a Barnes and Noble, I would have taken my inventory of Cd's (over 800 items) in case I could find some classical music bargains. But even without my dossier, I decided to stay at Barnes and Noble while my wife shopped for clothes. Whenever I am at a record store, I get tremendous satisfaction (okay, call it a rush) to reorganize the classical music Cd's that either the clerks or the customers have misfiled. At first, I was amazed and somewhat disheartened that the composers were for the most part meticulously arranged alphabetically and by genre.  But I was not foiled yet. Next to the classical music was a large section called "music"; perhaps I could find some misplaced Cd's there. I was overjoyed to locate bunches of Beethoven, Mozart, and Shostakovich Cd's scattered among country, pop, and rap music. What a mess! Classical music didn't belong with such riffraff. Undetected (I am good at this), bit by bit I rescued all of the classical Cd's from the inferior company that they were keeping. Then I properly assigned them to their rightful place in the classical music pantheon. This process took over half an hour, and I relished every minute of it. By the time my wife was ready to leave the mall, I surveyed my handiwork and saw that it was good. However, all was not well. I noticed that above the "music" sign there was another notation that I had overlooked: "Only $7.98--was $12.98." Those classical Cd's weren't misplaced after all. There was a rationale for them to have been mixed in with the other kinds of music. I had goofed, big time. I could have rounded up the classical Cd's and inserted them in their original slots, but that procedure would have been laborious; and my wife was waiting. Anyhow, I rationalized that it was no sin to put all the classical Cd's together, regardless of a special sales price on some of them. If I had seen the price reduction initially, would I have still re-stacked the Cd's? Knowing my lifelong addiction to classical music, the answer is a no-brainer.

[Coopmv]

The Barnes And Noble Caper


My wife and I had been without a car for over two months--thanks to a defective computer cluster module and copious body work to repair the damage that our car sustained in a minor accident. So when we finally got a loaner car last week, my wife, who hates to be cooped up, scooped me up and off we went to an undisclosed destination an hour away.  If I had known that we would have landed at a mall with a Barnes and Noble, I would have taken my inventory of Cd's (over 800 items) in case I could find some classical music bargains. But even without my dossier, I decided to stay at Barnes and Noble while my wife shopped for clothes. Whenever I am at a record store, I get tremendous satisfaction (okay, call it a rush) to reorganize the classical music Cd's that either the clerks or the customers have misfiled. At first, I was amazed and somewhat disheartened that the composers were for the most part meticulously arranged alphabetically and by genre.  But I was not foiled yet. Next to the classical music was a large section called "music"; perhaps I could find some misplaced Cd's there. I was overjoyed to locate bunches of Beethoven, Mozart, and Shostakovich Cd's scattered among country, pop, and rap music. What a mess! Classical music didn't belong with such riffraff. Undetected (I am good at this), bit by bit I rescued all of the classical Cd's from the inferior company that they were keeping. Then I properly assigned them to their rightful place in the classical music pantheon. This process took over half and hour, and I relished every minute of it. By the time my wife was ready to leave the mall, I surveyed my handiwork and saw that it was good. However, all was not well. I noticed that above the "music" sign there was another notation that I had overlooked: "Only $7.98--was $12.98." Those classical Cd's weren't misplaced after all. There was a rationale for them to have been mixed in with the other kinds of music. I had goofed, big time. I could have rounded up the classical Cd's and inserted them in their original slots, but that procedure would have been laborious; and my wife was waiting. Anyhow, I rationalized that it was no sin to put all the classical Cd's together, regardless of a special sales price on some of them. If I had seen the price reduction initially, would I have still re-stacked the Cd's? Knowing my lifelong addiction to classical music, the answer is a no-brainer.

I wonder if most B&N and Borders stores still have classical music sections?  I have not walked into any of these stores in a few years ...

[Satzaroo]

I know that the B&N in Boardman, Ohio, has a large selection, as does the Borders in Honolulu.

[Scarpia]

Maybe the kid they told to put those classical CDS in the discount section got fired because of your caper.   

[Szykneij]

I wonder if most B&N and Borders stores still have classical music sections?  I have not walked into any of these stores in a few years ...

At least it appears they're still selling capers ...

[Satzaroo]

Response to Scarpia's "Maybe the kid they told to put those classical CDS in the discount section got fired because of your caper."

Good point. I never thought of that consequence. Boundary issues have always bedeviled me, especially when classical music is at stake.

[karlhenning]

I doubt he got fired. You work in a retail store, you get used to the fact that customers pick things up and may set them down somewhere entirely else ; )

The B&N at School & Washington Streets has a tolerable classical selection, though inevitably overweighted with the Standard Classics that almost everyone already owns.

FYE just a couple of blocks up Washington Street has a much deeper and more adventurous selection.  After all, I bought some Partch, Feldman, Hovhaness & Gesualdo there . . . .

[greg]

The only 2 stores I knew of that have good classical selections are either out of business or don't even have classical sections any more. I guess most of the time you have to live in a city to be around a place with a good selection (or an orchestra).