so young, so, um, simple?

So we've been getting these students in the store, I think they're from the Ryerson University publishing program or something. Anyway, they have this assignment about bookstores and how they categorize things. Now, they must be in first year, cause they're research skills are, sadly, a wee bit inept. A couple of weeks ago, one girl came in and started asking me about where we keep certain books, like what section. So she asks about Alice Munroe's Runaway and I tell her it's in the literature section, but also on the new release table. This confused her (I mean, how can one book be in two places, right?), but she scribbled down what I said anyway. Then she asked about Jane Jacob's Dark Age Ahead (which is next on my reading list, I must say) and I mentioned that it was in our Political Science/Sociology section, but also on the Social Sciences table in the back. Now, she got really confused at this point. "Wait," she said, "Which section is it? Political Science, Sociology, or Social Science?" "Um, Political Science and Sociology ARE Social Sciences," I answered. Then she got really embarrassed and scribbled that down, pretty much word for word (Political Science and Sociology are Social Sciences). She thanked me for my time and ran away. Ok, so she didn't exactly run, but she probably meant to.

Yesterday, while working in the back trying to get some returns out while the fresh-off-the-picket-line UPS workers are providing free shipping charges to established account holders for Thursday and Friday, a sort of "thanks for your patience/sorry for the inconvenience" deal, another young Ryerson student comes to the big window at the back and starts asking me questions. I ask her if she's from Ryerson, and mention that some of her classmates have been in asking questions already. I think that embarrassed her, cause she started talking in a much squeakier voice than she had started with. Anyway, instead of asking about specific books, this young thing (she looked so young!) asked much vaguer questions. She started with "How do you choose what books go in each section?" To which I glibly replied, "Um, based on the subject of the book. A history book goes in the history section." (At this point I started feeling like an ass, cause I didn't mean to be so bitchy.) Then she asked, "Well, for instance," and she looks up at the sign above the window, "why is this section called 'insert name of bookstore here'?" Ouch. I could feel her embarrassment before I even answered her question, and I tried to answer it nicely, without too much contempt in my voice, but it came out "That's the name of the bookstore," with a you idiot tinge to it. Then, with even less confidence (I'm such a destroyer of young minds), she asked how our store was different from Chapters or Indigo. "Well," I started, "we're not a chain, we're independently owned and operated. We offer a more specific selection," and then added "I don't really know what else to tell you. Do you have a more specific question?" (Looking back, I was really bitchy to this poor girl, and I kinda feel bad now, but her questions were pretty inane, and I had lots of work to do. I blame the teacher for creating such a lame-ass assignment.) Anyway, she went on to ask why we don't have a specific section for marked down books (which we do, and it was right behind her - my manager pointed that one out to her), but she meant like that section at Chapters/Indigo that has new releases marked down by 30% (so she explained) and we said that that's not what we're about, and that because of our size, we can't afford to do that kind of thing, blah blah blah. Then, looking way past embarrassed and even, I must admit, a tad defeated, she slinked away.

Now, I'm not one to relish my ability to wreak havoc on the self-esteem of those younger and more impressionable than myself, but I really don't think she was trying that hard. Her questions seemed too spontaneous and she hadn't done that much planning. If she's in university, she should have, or she should have at least been told to do more research on books and bookstores before coming out. This isn't the first week of school. These kids have been there for a few months already, they should know what to ask, right? Shouldn't they?

I feel dirty.