On Saturday, Nov 28th, the day after “Black Friday”, we lazily rolled out of bed. We were relaxed and actually enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season. The day before we had spent with family after sleeping in, our bodies, credit cards and reason unscathed by the media-hyped madness of the previous day. At 10am we strolled into The Book Corner. There had been ample and convenient parking available behind the store, we parked right next to the door. We spent 2 hours browsing the three floors new and used books, stopped to pet Connolly a few times and watch as the owner, Jeff(?), taught our son how to use a balance board. After 2 hours of relaxed browsing with no lines, no pushing, no shoving, no noise, no piped-in elevator x-mas music, no credit offers, no perfume counters, no food courts, no screaming children and no cell phones, we had completed the season's shopping with a gift for EVERYONE on our list.

How often can you go into the “local” corporate-owned book store and not only have this kind of experience but also enjoy one-on-one service from the actual proprietor?