Monday, August 26, 2013

Customer Assistance: A Poem

(written for last week's Booksmith Staff Talent Show)

Our schedule has thirty names upon it.
The regulars may know us all by face.
But here's a bit of customer assistance
in telling who is who around the place.
Well, Dana runs the show; she's there surveying
the details from her elevated perch.
And Lisa's our Premier of Product Placement,
the maven of the movement of the merch.
There's Peter wading through receipts and errors.
He brings us bags of bagels anyway.
The galleys in our cubbies come from Alie.
We swear we'll get through all of them someday.
When something breaks, it's time to call on Bruno.
His day is full, for furniture is fickle.
Call Daniel for a detailed book suggestion,
a thorough search, or yummy homemade pickle.
The Shire's tallest honorary hobbit
is Erik, always noting and observing.
And Jamie plans events and tweets and tumbles.
Her skills at multi-tasking are unnerving.
In rain or shine, there's Jon receiving boxes
of nearly every book that's introduced.
And Jodie travels 'round the lonely planet
with Waldo and with expertise in Proust.
And holy crime in Italy, our Kobos
would languish if we lacked the help of Kat.
And Katie runs the blog, designs our flyers,
and works on many stuffs on top of that.
When music decades-old is on the speakers,
then Liz is here, and Waltham feels her lack.
There's Lydia; she's dreaming of a kitty
and shelving with a zipper down her back.
The chocolate and the books from smaller presses
and lots of music knowledge come from Mark.
Paul quotes his witty children and informs them
of how to read a C.S. Lewis arc.
At closing or when helping with receiving,
Ric's known for being chill and easy-going.
And likewise, Russ, with saintly stores of patience
keeps often-very-special orders flowing.
There's literary Shuchi, known for Grub Street
and elephants, which populate her book.
And hey, I'll take some pity on the new guy,
so Tom, this time, at least, you're off the hook.

Now, Amy loves YA, and blogs, and magic
and drawing awesome figures out of sticks.
And biased though I am, I think our section's
the best within this mortar and these bricks.
Clarissa joined us recently and added
her energy and voice into the mix.

The UBC is quietly kept humming
by Carl in his uniform of plaid.
Natasha's love of fairy tales is deathless,
so check her chapbooks out - they're crazy rad.

The C and G has windups, earrings, candles
and stuff of every nature that appeals.
It's Kerri who decides on every item.
She gets it right, and does it all in heels!
And Bacon sizzles, belting '80s music.
Her workload gives us all the heebie-jeebies.
A stranger in a wig? Well, that, most likely,
is Julia, creator of the chibis.
There's no one aging quickly at the Booksmith.
We're all kept young by sweet and youthful Tate.
And Joe's returned to find a store of changes
and help a most creative team create.

Well, that's the team in-store. As you can witness,
the group is vibrant, active, and alive.
So how come I don't hear a page of "got it"
for customer assistance to Reg 5?

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