Читать книгу Confessions of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell - Страница 63

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Nicky was working in the shop today, so I drove to Glasgow to dump books at the paper recycling plant. Before I left, I asked her to clear the table and do a new window display while I was away.

I arrived at the Smurfit Kappa recycling plant at 2.30 p.m. and dropped off boxes of books from the van into four large square plastic bins (each one can take about twenty boxes). The contents of the bins are emptied onto a conveyor belt, then shredded and baled before being sent to China or Birmingham for recycling, depending on the international price of paper.

Nicky asked me to go to an architectural salvage warehouse since I was in Glasgow to find her some shutters, so once I’d finished recycling the books, I headed off there. Eventually I found the place, after much driving around, during which I accidentally jumped a red light. The salvage warehouse had plenty of shutters, and when I asked what the price was, they told me that they’re £75 per pair, so I called Nicky to see if she was happy with that price. She replied ‘Eh? What? Have they got the decimal point in the wrong place?’ I left empty-handed.

Returned to the shop at six o’clock to find that Nicky had inflicted her customary chaos on the place, with piles of books on the floor, table and even under the table. In a radical departure from her normal behaviour, Nicky had followed instructions and created a new window display, which appeared to be a bewildering assortment of books on golf, cinema and politics.

The combination of five hours’ driving and heaving the boxes out of the van hasn’t helped my back problems.

The shop has seemed busier than usual this winter, possibly because it has been so mild. Most of our customers are retired and don’t like driving in icy conditions, but they don’t seem to be put off by rain.

Till Total £61

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