Where's Bernie? At some point during the week after President Joe Biden's Inauguration ceremony, a photo of bemittened Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders entered the Meme Hall of Fame. I suspect you already know that. But do you remember the precise moment when your brain patterns altered, and you suddenly realized that whenever anyone posted a photo on social media, your first instinct was to lean in and examine it for signs of Bernie in his chair, arms folded?
Now don't get me wrong, I love Bernie. Although I live in upstate New York now, I was born in Vermont and lived there until about a decade ago. I got used to the ubiquity of the Bern. And his mitten meme has helped raise about $2 million for charitable organizations. So I'm not complaining here.
I particularly loved all the Bernie-at-our-bookstore memes, both domestic and foreign. He was inside. He was outside. He even had fellow travelers: Schuler Books, Grand Rapids, Mich., posted on Facebook: "Some of our staff noticed a similarity between Miss Margaret dressed for storytime Saturday morning and a certain Bernie Sanders photo that's been making the rounds. Totally unintentional, but good for a smile." His international tour included a dancing Bernie video created by Welsh bookseller Addyman Books, Hay-on-Wye. The only place I never managed to spot him was in his own box during Zoom events.
What messed with me, however, was how quickly #BernieMittens rewired my brain. Part of my job here at the Shelf is to scan social media daily, looking for posts about bookstores and booksellers. Once Bernie became the antonym for Waldo (Where isn't Bernie?), I started hallucinating, seeing him even when he wasn't there. A beautiful bookstore pic would pop up on Facebook and instead of thinking about how lovely and inviting the place looked, I'd practically be reaching for a Holmesian magnifying glass to find Bernie. I know you're in here somewhere!
And indeed he kept showing up, which ruined, at least for a few days, one of my favorite occasional Shelf Awareness features: "Bookseller Moment." Usually, this is a photo capturing a precious instant of bookshop stillness, from the bookseller's perspective.
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| Roebling Point Books | |
Consider some recent examples: Next Page Books, Cedar Rapids, Iowa ("The light. It's like magic."); Roebling Point Books & Coffee, Covington, Ken. ("It's the perfect day to pick up a new read!"; or Eureka Books, Eureka, Calif. ("Lights are flickering off and on with each big gust of wind today. We hope you guys are safe and cozy at home, curled up with a good book!"
Unfortunately, in the age of Covid-19 there are far too many pics of uninhabited bookshop sales floors, but that's a sad story, hopefully short, for another day.
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| Itty Bitty Bookstore | |
Although Bookseller Moments don't normally include people, the pandemic has added a measure of poignancy to photos that do, like a recent one of Itty Bitty Bookstore, Stoughton, Wis.: "Hello. Happy snowy day to you all! I just wanted to pop on here and say thank you all so much for your support and love! I truly appreciate you all so much!"
Among the international Bookseller Moments I've noticed lately are Harris & Harris Books, Clare, Suffolk, England ("Now there’s a glorious nugget of loveliness. I found these poppets on my bookboard this morning.... Hang in there readers, it will soon be Spring."); Bleak House Books ("You will forever be my friend--Hong Kong."); and Canada's Otis & Clementine's Books & Coffee in Upper Tantallon, N.S. ("Books in the afternoon light are so simply beautiful.")
It turns out that you don't even have to be near your store to have a Bookseller Moment. The Frugal Frigate, A Children's Bookstore, Redlands, Calif., shared a video on Facebook, noting: "Logan is at the helm of the Frigate this afternoon so I took the opportunity to run up to Panorama Point before going home to get some 'office' time. It’s snowing!" And Pageturners Bookstore, Indianola, Iowa, posted: "I know you are all waiting with baited breath, but Karisa and I are still home waiting for our drives to be plowed. Even my trusty 4WD truck is no match for the drifts. As soon as we make it in, we’ll let you know!"
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| The Bookshop | |
A couple days ago, I happened upon a beautiful thank you note in the form of a Bookseller Moment. It was posted by Joelle Herr, owner of the Bookshop, East Nashville, Tenn.: "Confession: sometimes, when walking into the shop in the morning, I marvel a bit that this place actually exists, not to mention the fact that this July will mark five whole years slinging books on Nashville's East Side. As much as I would love to have a big to-do to celebrate that milestone, we’ll have to wait and see on that. In the meantime, just wanted to pause and offer yet another thank you to each and every one of you who’ve ordered books, popped by to browse, written positive reviews, shared our posts, helped spread the word about our existence, attended our events, signed up for our book clubs, participated in our reading challenge, and otherwise supported or cheered us on."
Now that, my friends, is a Bookseller Moment, and not a #BerniesMittens to be found anywhere in sight. Believe me, I doublechecked.