tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post3037671827899702425..comments2024-03-13T07:34:24.149+00:00Comments on The Age of Uncertainty: Off the RailsSteerforthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-25283498824577386332013-01-22T14:19:29.927+00:002013-01-22T14:19:29.927+00:00This post really resonated with me. As a postgradu...This post really resonated with me. As a postgraduate student, I used to work in a University Library with a lovely group of people but left to move to Aberdeen when my husband got an academic post. Now I live in beautiful countryside raising our young son and doing research in a very part-time post. I too look back with fondness and miss meeting colleagues and my life then. I think your prescription of long walks etc is just the thing I need. I'm really enjoying your blog! SandraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-75477383924832405592012-12-04T22:46:08.724+00:002012-12-04T22:46:08.724+00:00I played 'Hounds of Love' constantly. I li...I played 'Hounds of Love' constantly. I lived in Ottawa (a much colder city) at the time and easily recall walking across a bridge over the Ottawa River as Kate Bush sang about watching something moving under, under the ice, moving.<br /><br />And then on a cross-country bus once, dozing off to the same song, then being startled awake by the urgently-whispered <i>'Wake up!'</i> in my right ear. <br /><br />(I had a fairly extensive collection of KB rarities and so on - all worthless now, of course, what with everything being available and accessible to anyone with an eBay account, but at the time I was quite proud of it all)Biscuithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09943228742048113256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-83812667813206405022012-12-01T18:47:32.016+00:002012-12-01T18:47:32.016+00:00Muteswan - Yes, I loved the job when it was all ab...Muteswan - Yes, I loved the job when it was all about the books. The strength of Ottakar's was perceived by some as a weakness - people often thought the branches were independents, rather than part of a chain. <br /><br />For me, the writing was on the wall when an operations manager asked me to get the staff to write handwritten reviews of books they hadn't read (because the customers liked that sort of thing). I also lamented the fact that a few dodgy managers made it necessary to burden the rest of us with an ever-increasing number of spreadsheets, checklists and audits.<br /><br />But, as you say, nothing lasts forever, and being forced out of a comfort zone has done me nothing but good. Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-4969726340294112782012-12-01T15:47:16.168+00:002012-12-01T15:47:16.168+00:00This is a lovely post, and I think touches on some...This is a lovely post, and I think touches on something that all of us who worked in either record shops, or book shops can recognise. I had the pleasure of both, and can honestly say my years working in retail were incredibly formative and (mostly) wonderful fun. <br /><br />However, this was when even as a lowly sales clerk / bookseller I could make choices about what we stocked. When you could discover something new, play it or display it, and have someone discover it themselves through you... Which was what made it fun. I can't remember how many times we had to take the CD we were playing out of the hi-fi so we could sell it. That just couldn't happen now. Or when you could instigate a promotion just by being enthusiastic about old books. When we had arguments over whether k d lang should be in country or pop, and there was a heavy metal section. <br /><br />I could go on, which shows how your post has started me reminiscing... So thank you. But I would end with, yes, nothing lasts forever, and there is no way we would have the same experience now. And you know what, I knew I was done with book selling the day I got promoted to Assistant Manager. I turned to my boss and said 'but I don't have book in my job title anymore...'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-72660063182168210852012-11-28T22:20:53.647+00:002012-11-28T22:20:53.647+00:00Séamus - I think you're right. We have to evol...Séamus - I think you're right. We have to evolve and few things are sadder than a person who refuses to accept the reality of growing older. I wouldn't want to 25 again anyway (although I would like the flat stomach back).<br /><br />Anon - I agree, up to a point. It is relative and today's new booksellers have no point of comparison - from their point of view, the job's still better than many. <br /><br />However, I'd say that I did adapt and evolve during a time that saw many changes - the demise of the NBA and EPOS, for example - and after 15 years, I still loved being in the book trade. <br /><br />For me, it all changed when my autonomy was taken away and I found mysef working for some very boorish people. Some of my colleagues adapted, but over 75% left.<br /><br />I think we can safely say that the book trade was better 20 years ago, but you don't miss what you've never had. <br /><br />Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-4319821666320459882012-11-28T21:33:49.655+00:002012-11-28T21:33:49.655+00:00Yes the book trade is different but many of my you...Yes the book trade is different but many of my younger bookselling colleages are having their "good old days" now and it really is no different for them as it was for me 20 years ago. When I started I remember a much older colleague waxing lyrical about the "good old days" and the world he described was alien to me.<br />This is how the world turns. It changes - sometimes we change with it, sometimes we are left behind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-63836121143171906032012-11-27T14:57:43.071+00:002012-11-27T14:57:43.071+00:00It was fun, but it had to end. That really speaks...It was fun, but it had to end. That really speaks to me. I often think back to my 'past lives' and wonder what would have happened had I not switched directions. I had a past life as a musician. Ironically, I was once in a band called 'Past Lives.'<br />I agree that the poem Lucy posted is terrific, too. Neat blog.<br />You still play with books, I still play music. We evolve. Somehow it all makes us who we are now. And that's really not so bad, is it?Séamas Poncánhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17494376208367219789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-10022109435803289682012-11-27T09:31:41.298+00:002012-11-27T09:31:41.298+00:00Lucy - Thanks for the link to that beautiful poem ...Lucy - Thanks for the link to that beautiful poem - the dust of lost friends certainly does sting my face sometimes. I agree about learning to appreciate the present (although on a bad day I can't help thinking <i>"If this is as good as it gets, then</i>..."). <br /><br />I think the answer is to go for long walks, see more of old friends and take up my mother's offer to babysit more often!<br /><br />Richmonde - Sadly they do. But before I become too nostalgic, I need to remember what it was like sitting on a crowded bus to Richmond on a wet winter morning, crawling through traffic. <br /><br />Martin - I think you're right. I've become very anti-social during the last few years, partly as a result of problems with our son, partly because I'm a little cut-off in Lewes. I'm going to remedy that.<br /><br />Peter - Thanks for taking the trouble to post a comment. I never know how many people read this blog, so I always appreciate a 'first-time caller' (that brings back long evenings listening to LBC phone-ins).<br /><br />Kissed by Kate Bush? Lucky man. <br /><br />I think record shops were similar to bookshops in those days - staffed by enthusiasts who knew their customers. Sadly, the men in suits took over and words like 'units' and 'product' became the norm. They regarded their shop staff with contempt, as if they weren't really proper business people and, to coin a phrase, "knew the price of everything and the value of nothing".<br /><br />Interestingly, these people, with their stock-to-sales ratios, planograms and scale-outs, have managed to bring some great chains to their knees, failing to see that in the age of Amazon, high street customers would not want identikit shops manned by brow-beaten staff.<br /><br />I'm glad you're largely happier in Hastings. The commute to Lewes beats travelling in London!<br />Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-63148786212653059132012-11-27T08:58:33.249+00:002012-11-27T08:58:33.249+00:00(long-time listener, first-time caller). This, as ...(long-time listener, first-time caller). This, as so much of your blog, really resonated with me - just one industry over and a decade before. I used to work in record shops (Virgin) in the late 70s, early 80s. Ended up running one in London. Similar misty memories of launches and signings (every rock star was an arsehole, as far as I can remember). I, um, was kissed once by Kate Bush (who was nice) at a launch - on the cheek. Anyway I tired of worrying about how many "units" to order and what my stock-to-sales ratio was and now more or less happy living in Hastings and commuting to Lewes. Sorry, this isnt my blog...but just wanted to say how much I enjoy yours.PPeternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-44034723849012458992012-11-27T08:14:45.148+00:002012-11-27T08:14:45.148+00:00The healing power of a pub lunch in the company of...The healing power of a pub lunch in the company of valued friends and former colleagues, is something I've come to appreciate more and more over the years. Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13494219959077922220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-19033353779301451082012-11-26T21:06:58.029+00:002012-11-26T21:06:58.029+00:00It was fun, it ended, things do. ;-)It was fun, it ended, things do. ;-)Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-78293630924232818052012-11-26T21:03:47.778+00:002012-11-26T21:03:47.778+00:00It's very important not to get too clouded by ...It's very important not to get too clouded by the 'good old days' <br />One day, today will be the glory days where you didn't have arthritis or a colostomy bag (sorry, that was too much!).<br /><br />I read a poem on a blog earlier:<br /><br />http://jill-teague.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/live-in-layers.html<br /><br />It made me think about the people I know with that 'careful what you wish for' fate stifling them.<br /><br />I guess we are all able to find things to remember with fondness, and your evening out with a former colleague will definitely be one.lucy joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04863146546863419637noreply@blogger.com