A long time ago I was a kid that lived to read books. Any book, it didn't really matter. I would go to the school library at lunch to read, I would go to the public library up the street to read, or I would ride my bike about four blocks up to the bookstore in the strip mall lot next to Cal Worthingtons. That kind of stuff.
The people at the bookstore called me "Sweet tooth" because the first thing I would do when I walked in was grab a handful of complimentary candy the owner provided in a glass jar on the checkout counter. He would say stuff like, "Hey sweet tooth, where are you going today?" I would smile and say something like, Space, or, World War Three, before going about my business of the day.
He was asking which section I would set up base camp in. I would choose the Sci Fi or Fantasy aisle mostly, I would walk up the isle pulling the books I had been chipping at previously, then I would sit down Indian style on the floor to read with the shelf at my back and the pile of candy in my lap.
I tried to stay out of peoples way, sometimes people would ask me what I was reading or what I thought they should read. My mom said I wasn't allowed to talk to people I didn't know while I was out, so I would just smile and grab something off the shelf and hand it to them. I never bought a book from the store, couldn't afford anything.
After book sales the owner would have a cardboard box full of books that didn't sell, but he though I might enjoy, waiting for me when I came in. I would stuff my book bag full of as many as I could carry home and hide them in my room. My mom didn't like me taking things from people for free.
I read that nowadays bookstore customers will type the name of books they see inside the book store into their smartphones, then go home and buy them online because it is cheaper. Last time I went to a bookstore there was barely anything in there, they were going out of business. Just rows and rows of empty shelf's. I only went in because they were selling everything for .25 cents a pop, I cleaned up, walked out with a cardboard box full of books.
