It's Friday, and I'm at school later than I want to be, sitting at the circulation desk, staring at several piles of one-dollar bills. Many are bent and wrinkled, threatening the stack with an imminent careening-over. I sigh, and start straightening them as I count out sets of twenty before creasing the pile lengthwise and placing it to the side.
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They almost always come back, the shoppers who receive "paper" change. Or sometimes it's a raid of the piggy bank, a gift from a friend, a last-minute handoff from a parent in the car rider line. Whatever the source, the ones are most likely wadded up in a sweaty palm, tossed across the counter by the register when asked "How much do you have?"
The negotiations begin, mini-lessons woven throughout: how $4.99 is really like $5, not $4; attempts to explain tax (nearly impossible for this librarian to execute to a six-year old in English, much less to a fifth-grader in my limited Spanish--and often ending up in my "eating" the sales tax). My assistant and I spend the bulk of book fair days helping students navigate the weighty decisions of invisible pens versus cellphone erasers, holographic bookmarks or a pointer to poke a sibling.
By and large, our customers leave satisfied, and a few more wrinkled bills end up in the till.
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The ones get counted and entered on the tabulation form. Other denominations are far less wrinkled and numerous; I complete the form, safely store the funds, and head for home--my twenty-second book fair closed, packed, and stacked.
Congratulations on the closing of the book fair, Chris! It's so good to "hear" your voice and to dip back into the rhythms of your life. I've missed you. I haven't been blogging as much this past year, either. Life has been consuming. The idea of my committing to this Challenge was almost absurd...but at the last, I plunged, and it was like a vitamin infusion. I felt an instant shot of strength. Writing is magical on so many ways...back to this book fair: I can so see you there with the wrinkled bills, trying to explain sales tax in Spanish. It is very real. I can even catch a whiff of book-newness...I so loved the book fair, as a child. You stir memories. I may have to Slice about it. Welcome back, my friend! Here's to the stories we live each day, and the chance to live a bit of them together!
ReplyDeleteFran, I was so glad to see your entry posted on day one, too. Your writing always teaches me something, with the content and the crafting! And yes, this was something the therapist suggested, returning to a hobby I've enjoyed in the past, focusing on the positive when I've felt the opposite for much of this past year.
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