Letters to the editor....(WaPo)

I spent alomst 10 years as a bookseller and when I saw this article in the WaPo I just had to let 'em have it.

My thanks to Ereskigal's Disguntled Bookseller blog for preserving the link which I lost.

Published in the Washington Post Jan. 1st.


Paula Quint, president of the Children's Book Council, gave a nod of approval to parents who make a habit of dropping off their young ones in the children's section of a bookstore. She said that Borders and Barnes & Noble "are effectively baby-sitting your children, [while] you have two hours of uninterrupted book shopping" ["Bookstores' Story Time Not Just for Kids; Parents Use Occasion to Browse and Buy," Metro, Dec. 25].

As a former Borders employee, I wish to disabuse parents of this notion.People who work in retail suffer from low pay ($6.25 an hour to start), chronic understaffing, a heavy workload and constant customer service requests. They are not nannies.Booksellers are not trained or necessarily inclined to make sure the toddler being dragged out the front door -- a daily occurrence -- is really with his or her parent.

Drink your latte, buy your CD, but don't let your child out of your sight.