I’ve never really considered myself hero material. I don’t have the right footwear. I need at least 7.5 hours of sleep a night. When I stand up too fast, I get a little dizzy and have to bend over for about five seconds until the blood rushes to all the right places.
My most unheroic trait, however, is this: I am a shirker of responsibility.
To illustrate my point, the Puget Sound Blood Center has been calling me, hoping I will set up an appointment for another blood donation.
I said they could call me; I just said I needed a full year to recover from the panic attack I had there last summer (they still gave me the juice and cookies). My year must be up because I see their number appear on the Caller ID: PSBC Predictive, calling to remind me that donating blood equals saving a life.
I let it go to voicemail. Superman wouldn’t let it go to voicemail.
Another realm of my shirkdom, one that’s far more humiliating to admit to my writer friends: I have bought many, many books on Amazon. Please know my head is low and my cheeks are red as I admit this to you.
Of course I’ve long known that writers should support indie bookstores. But still, I didn’t. I had become lazy and cheap, two traits to which Amazon caters.
In writing this post, however, I realized the magnitude of my stupidity. Realizing the magnitude of my stupidity made me want to reduce the magnitude of my stupidity. The result? I vowed that I would no longer allow my desire for convenience and my love of a good bargain to rule my book buying decisions.
I would do my part to save the lives of independent bookstores. And in doing so, I would become something of a hero. A third tier hero, sure, but a hero nonetheless.
And today, so can you.
But why should you? Why should your friends and family care about saving the lives of independent bookstores?
Bookstores facilitate a more connected community. Whether we live in a large city or a small town, we humans crave and need a connected community. Spend a few moments on Facebook and you’ll see just how desperately we crave and need the fellowship of others. Lucky for us, good independent bookstores are often the heartbeat of community, partly because bookstores do much more than sell books. These days, they have to. The best indie bookstores host readings and musicians. They are meeting places, perfect venues to grab a coffee or a panini. Bookstores provide places where people can come together in real life and connect over books and music and ideas and food. Real people in real life. Just like the good old days. Go spend an hour in one; you’ll see how good it feels.
Full piece at Writer Unboxed