Today was an especially cool day. I all but finished copy editing Hammered, I got invited into a SUPER! SECRET! club (which won't be a secret on Monday because I'll blog about it then), I hung out by the pool at an awesome resort with some friends of mine, hit the comic book store to pick up Chew #14 and Northlanders #33, then walked into a used bookstore out here called Bookman's.
Here is what happened when I walked into Bookman's with my daughter:
UNKNOWN FEMALE VOICE: (shock, excitement) Mr. Hearne!
Hearne turns his head to the right. Two students stand agape at the vision of their English teacher existing outside of school.
HEARNE: (shock, bewilderment) Brunnhilde! Megatron! (Names changed to protect the innocent)
BRUNNHILDE: I can't believe this!
MEGATRON: No WAY!
HEARNE: I know!
It is a magical moment for all concerned. Brunnhilde and Megatron realize that teachers have lives and do not live in coffins, iron maidens, basements, etc. Hearne is filled with hope for the future because he has now witnessed students visiting a bookstore of their own free will during a vacation.
Heh! Honestly, it was great. Those two kids are simply brilliant, and it's easy to see why, since they weren't at home watching TV or playing video games. They were in a bookstore. Looking at books. Talking about what they wanted to read! It made me ridiculously happy. Such a very cool day.
I miss Bookman's. It is such a great store, at least the one I always visited in Tucson. I'm not sure how many there are...
ReplyDeleteFlagstaff, Mesa, Tucson...those are the ones I know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this story. I love readers but communities of readers are even better. I also have a soft spot for high school English teachers as my mother was one. I know all the hard work involved with that, so thank you for that too!
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