The book sales business...and how to beat it!......

Classes started again on Monday for the Summer B session. That meant that I had to get up and leave my show (I was watching "Hidalgo") when my boss called me out to work three hours earlier. I did not complain though. Figured that I wanted to go on vacation soon (again!) and I would need the extra money. I will work like a dog if I knew for sure that I would be able to go on vacations. So, since we have seen Georgia and South Carolina already, we have decided that Tennessee is our next big place on the map. Therefore, i did not really protest to the extra hours this week although I must admit, i was not mentally prepared for it.
My reasons for going to Tennessee is that i will most likely be seeing a lot of The King's works and paraphenalia. Maybe we will go to Memphis and see Graceland. I really like Elvis. Love his voice and his style. Ami wants to go camping and Nan wants to go because she's never been to Atlanta and she likes the idea of camping. We will be passing through Atlanta on our way to Tennessee and I am pretty sure she will fall in love with the city. Hopefully, she will see Atlanta in the nighttime when the buildings are lighted up.
I've told my mom about the trip and so far, she hasn't said no...that is a good thing! She worries a lot when we go on trips. all she said is that there was flooding in Pennsylvania. Nan told her that was on the east coast. We will be travelling inland, away from the coast.
Anyway, with the book sales.....I have been selling books and boy do I deal with some real nonsense. There is always a customer who asks for a discount and believes that you really have no brain or that i am there to rip them off. Really, i was a student and for all students, the prices of books in America is staggering. and imagine, these are books for a 2-year college! The entire business is a big rip-off. every two years or less, the books change and then the students are stuck with the book for good. When you do manage to sell a book back, you get almost 1/3, if so much, of what you originally paid for the book. So yes, the book business is a huge rip-off. I feel sorry for students but I do understand that I was hired by my boss who happens to run a business.
I guess I know why i did science now. I cannot make a profit on another's expense. Would rather be poor and happy without my conscience nagging me. As long as i can travel the world...guilt free!
so today, i had a customer. she comes in the store for an ESL (English as a Second Language) book. I show her the book and tell her the used price. She asks me for a discount. I tell her that I do not have the authority to fix prices and my boss is the one who does that. she asks me if I could call him and ask him for a better price. I say, "no, i cannot do that because he has left for the day but he will be in tomorrow in the evening...".. really i couldn't say, "Lady, you do not know my boss!" She is smiling and looking at me and I do not know what to do. she leaves the store for a few minutes and the Indian boss calls out from the other side, "She is a South Indian girl." I said, "I know that."
So she gets her card from her husband and i ring up the price of the book. It's $30 plus the 6% sales tax that is required by the state. So the price comes up to $31.80. the lady tells me, " you said there is no tax." Now, I do not like when people tell me I said things I never said. I told her, "Maam, there is a 6% sales tax in Florida. I cannot take that out." I guess she must have hated me when she left. Must have thought that i could do more for her but really, I only work there and I follow the rules...even if i dislike the boss.
I too know what it feels like to fork money out to buy books and i invented many ways to go around buying books. nan and I shared a Calculus book for five semesters then lent the book to a friend! we shared the graphing calculator, the organic chemistry book, the biochemistry book, the literature books, the immunology book (older version), etc. For the rest of classes, we would take classes in sequential semesters. By the time we were done with our biochem book, there was the teacher's notes, nan's notes, my notes and our drawings in addition to hilighting! there was writing on the margins, the front and back of the pages, and on the covers of that book!
we used to look online for different schools around the country with teachers who posted their notes online and print the notes. usually the syllabi do not vary from school to school. I used my cousin's chemistry book for my chemistry class that was using a different book. the chapters were different, the problems were different but the material was the same in both books. When nan and I had Literature exams, (we were in class together) and nan would use the book and i would photocopy the pages I needed out of the book. We managed to do well too. people believe because they work, that they must have the current edition of a book, the study guide, flash cards and a pretty notebook too! nan and I used to look online for older versions of the text and make our own notes. we worked, paid our own school bills that the scholarship did not cover, studied (not all the freaking time though!), watched tv, went to the mandir on school nights, never missed a family party, or never said we needed an entire weekend to study locked up in our room. 75% of what you learn is really what you believe you are capable of learning. When you remove limitations from your mind, you find that you are more receptive and learning becomes easy. you will not need to sit for hours and hours staring at a book. Adam Sandler's movies have a nice punch line, "You can do it!"
Back in our undergrad days, nan and i had fun with finding new ways to beat the book business and we did well with it. I cannot say that there was ever a time that we had a low grade when we shared a book. When there was an exam, nan would sleep while i studied, then i would sleep and nan would study, then the one who was waking would wake the other and we would exchange ideas to make sure we did not miss anything. sometimes i would wake up when furgie called me to eat roti with fried up mushrooms and tomatoes claiming it was brain food....at 2 freakin' a.m! didn't complain though...furgie is a good cook...most of the time. this is the coolest thing about being almost the same age as your siblings. you end up in school together and the memories are unbelievable!