Amazon.com vs. University Bookstore

As a college student, this is a fact that all of us can't help laughing at whenever conversations mention "the bookstore." University Bookstore is supposed to effectively serve students and faculty once it comes to books and office supplies. I don't see how that "mission" can be fulfilled when everything in the bookstore is more expensive than a regular price.

Merchandise products, such as T-shirts, sweater with your school's logo or mascot on it are way more expensive than the equivalents sold in Walmart or an average store. I guess we pay more for those extra logos and mascots. And we are willing to do that because we use the apparels not only to keep your body warm (or something like that) but also to show off our school's "spirit" or "pride." Well, at my pride level, I had two T-shirts with our mascot in the front and our chant in the back. I didn't pay a dime for them. I got them for free at the orientation. Some of my friends would go to the orientation for new students every year to get a new T-shirt. Some would go to the games (football, basketball, etc.) very very early to get one of the 100 free T-shirts for first comers. A dear friend of mine gave me a real nice school T-shirt for my graduation. I have not worn it since then. Again, at my pride level, I haven't seen a good occasion to parade in that T-shirt in this area.

Merchandise items are exclusive to the Bookstore so you really do not have a choice if you want to wear a school logo or mascot. Other than that, everything else you can find any where from outside with a lower price. Maybe that is why paper, notebook, pens, and other stuff are normally on display for a thick level of dust if they don't dust it regularly. I myself bought some poster makers there because I didn't want to go to One Dollar tree for one-dollar poster makers. My friends would run to the Bookstore to get some sharpies if we forget to bring extras for a group project. Oh I also bought a couple of blue books from the Bookstore. It is 50 cents each. Some instructors require it as a test book and you can find it nowhere else.

Those small items you can do without easily. But books are essential to prepare for class. Most courses have at least one required textbook. First semester at my school, I was new and obviously with no experienced guidance, I bought all my textbooks at the bookstore. It cost me a fortune even though I had all used books. I thought it was worth it for my education. As its life cycle ends after four months, I thought I may never use some of these books again and I wanted to sell it back to the Bookstore. I thought I would make some money back and help other students have access to lower cost textbooks. Well, it turned out more painful than I had thought. I stood in line for ever and found myself rather keep those books for no future use than selling them back for just a couple of dollars. I sold them anyway because I didn't want to waste my waiting time and I learned my lesson. For the mission of the Bookstore (or the profits of it), I made nearly a quarter of my money back. I thought that was quite an expensive one-time use of a book.

After that pocket-ripping pain, I decided to shop very carefully for text books. I would buy text books online or from my friends in the department. Of course, I am familiar with amazon.com and half.ebay.com. Most of the time, books on amazon.com are cheaper but if you are lucky, you can find some at a unbeatable price on half.com. Even when you want to sell your books back, you can probably make all your money back. I haven't tried selling my textbooks back to amazon.com. I am still trying to hold on the belief that someday, I will do something related to what I studied and I may need my books to look things up. Maybe I am just holding onto a dream that is drifting away.

Me: a coward, a chicken, a baby

She is a friend of mine. She is just full of courage and recklessness. She traveled to different places by herself, not knowing any one there. She once went to New York city and knocked on door after door to look for job. And I believe that was not the first or the only time. She amazed me what she dared to do and to think. She would move to another city, working some low paid job for 12 hours a day the whole summer in order to pay for the tuition. It is crazy to me that she thinks she wants to do it and then she does it. She has done so many things that you and I would never think of. For example, she does web designing as a hobby but she has made money doing it. She has done an oddest job in the world that is watching people sleep. I won't reveal what that job is about so that I would keep you wondering.

In comparison to her, I do travel by myself but normally I know someone there. And I am lucky enough that I have never had to go look for a dirt-cheap job by myself in a city of strangers and who knows what else. I got her to go with me. I always have big ideas but my passion normally falls short when it comes to execution. She is such a great friend that I see myself as a coward, a chicken, a baby in comparison to her. I am the safe player, she is the risk taker. I sometimes I wish I could be like her, as crazily adventurous as she is.

Brothers

I used to work for a family-owned bakery where I worked with almost all the members in the owner's family. Most of the time I work in the front with either one of the two brothers. Because they are both older than me so I will call them "Little brother" and "Bigger brother." Little brother is very generous to customers. He would give samples away for tasting. He always tells me to give extra to some serving so that customers will come back for our food. He would tell me the ins and outs when we are not busy or super busy. He would keep track of inventory and time the served food for safety. He would show me things to do to keep the working area clean and sanitized. I have worked in food service before so I know he has trained me professionally and was trained professionally.

Bigger brother also works for mom and dad like his little brother. And he is good and knows what he is doing all the time. There is one thing that makes him different from his little brother. He would be nice to customers but price to him is tightly fixed. No extras, no bargain. He would give away food to workers like me and the kitchen people or himself. At times he would go to the kitchen to find some "sample" to snack on. Everyone is okay with that. When there is not many customers, he would sit or stand outside to catch up some smoking. He would joke around with people all the time. But one time he got so mad and even started cursing when a customer brought back some cakes she bought the day before. She complained about the quality and wanted her money back. Bigger brother yelled at her and said: "Did you see this? All sales are final. No exchange, no return." This old lady was upset and went on with her complaints. She wouldn't leave so Bigger brother had to take back the cake and gave her the fresh ones so that she would go away. After that, Bigger brother still cursed angrily.

I hardly see Little Brother and Bigger Brother in the store at the same time. They avoid each other so that they wont be involved in a fight. At times I would hear Mom or Dad talk to either one of them that the other said this to them. That means, if one brother is not happy with what the other does, he would tell mom and dad and mom and dad have to go talk to him and straighten it out. Their personality is that much different. So is their management style.

Personally I prefer Little Brother's work ethics and management style, but I also enjoy Bigger Brother's casual relationship. Working with them, I realized what I have become through this American experience.