My husband reads this

Luke wants entertainment from my blog, so I must satisfy his desire by posting about something besides crafting.

I've been working at a bookstore this summer (and will most likely continue this venture through the school year) and it's been interesting study of people. I remember when I first moved to St. Louis and was subbing, I worked at a grocery store in the evenings and on weekends. I had to stop because after dealing with kids' issues all day, I'd spend my evenings dealing with those same issues manifest in adults and it made me sad for humanity. Bookstore life isn't that bad because it's definitely a more focused demographic that shops for books.

One of the things the retailer I work for does for the community is hold book drives. We have one going on now for the public school district in our community. A couple of issues with this idea:
1.) A lot of our "guests" do not live in the school district, or they have no connection to it (this is, after all, a college town),
2.) It's very political, as 43 positions were cut within the district this year, plus major funding cuts to all extra-curricular activities, including sports and music, and the libraries (some of the teachers have been called back to other positions now, but there are still a bunch that won't be with the district this year).

Part of my job as a cashier is to ask people if they'd like to purchase a book to donate to the schools' libraries. Here are a few of the stand out responses I've received:

-My taxes are high enough that it should cover the cost of libraries.
-The public library is always saying they don't have any money and look at all the remodeling they're doing! (This continued on for about two more minutes, all about public libraries, missing the point about school libraries completely)
-I'm buying books for my kids and they go to the schools, so I am donating to them.
-(Chuckle, chuckle) I donate all the books I buy after I read them.

And my personal favorite:

-I donate to the schools in a roundabout way.

All this to say, if you're asked to donate to any cause at any retail establishment and you just don't want to or have the means to, the cashier doesn't need to hear your excuse. Please, just politely decline. Telling the cashier your excuse won't win you favor in their eyes or make you look like a better person. We won't judge you if you just say, "Not today, thank you."

This has been a public service announcement from Cashiers Everywhere.