Written by EmmaV
As a bookseller, you see loads of books coming in and going out of the store every day. We can tell you with certainty: this is a good source for all kinds of contemplations and conversations! But also dealing with customers, or even plain equipment, has been inspirational for some of these staff quotes. Below are staff quotes overheard and collected at our stores, offering some bookish and not so bookish wisdom for your everyday life.
Part 1: Contemplations of a Bookseller
1. A colleague, pointing at the freshly arrived comic “Ant Man” wonders: “Zou hij in het Nederlands “Mier-Meneer” heten?” (“Would he be called “Mier-Meneer” in Dutch?”)
2. A colleague in the loading dock at the back of the store wonders what would happen if a centipede would break a leg? “Heeft hij dan een gipsen pootje en 999 krukken?” (“Would it have one little leg in a cast and 999 crutches?”)
3. “One colleague, in conversation with another, asks: “Hoe heet ook alweer de elleboog van je knie?” (“What’s the elbow of your knee called again?”) Another one answers: “Je knelleboog.” (“Your knelbow.”)
4. A colleague, enthusiastically discussing crime books, matter-of-factly declares: “Van een klif afduwen prima, neerschieten prima, maar maak het niet te lang.” (“Throwing someone from a cliff, fine; shooting someone, fine; but don’t drag it out.”)
5. A colleague, after making a small mistake: “Voor een slim persoon kan ik af en toe ongelofelijk dom zijn.” (“For a smart person I can be incredibly stupid sometimes.”)
6. A colleague took a pack of expired juice from the fridge in the break room and hesitated if she should drink it. Another one gives her some advice: “If in doubt, throw it out.” Then the first one wonders: “Is that true for boyfriends, too?”
