Confessions of a Curious Bookseller(78)
THE CURIOUS CAT BOOK EMPORIUM
Blog Post #5
Employee of the Year
And the winner is . . . Jack Grisby!
This month we looked back on the year and the many achievements and milestones to determine who among Fawn’s employees deserved this illustrious award. It was easy for the committee to decide the winner—not because everyone else is terrible but because Jack is so exemplary, generous, and passionate in his work. He puts everything into the Curious Cat Book Emporium, as if his life depended on it—and we assure you it does not, as Jack is very well-off, with an inground pool and an outdoor poolside rum bar, to only name a few of his family’s attributes.
So we reward Jack with a certificate, a ten-dollar gift card to the wine store, and a twenty-five-dollar gift card to the Curious Cat Book Emporium. Spend it wisely!
From: Jack Grisby
Sent: Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 2:12 PM
To: Fawn Birchill
Subject: Rainbow emergecny
Hi Fawn,
Rainbow was doing contorshin stuff on the staircase and now her head is stuck between the banisters and I don’t know what to do. I tried olive oil and coconut cream but it didn’t work. Can you come downstairs to help her.
Jack
From: Jack Grisby
Sent: Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 2:15 PM
To: Fawn Birchill
Subject: She’s okay
Hi Fawn,
Never mind she got her head out. We are going to clean the oil and lotion off the banister now.
Jack
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 2:40 PM
To: Jack Grisby
Re: She’s okay
Hi Jack,
I’m sorry I missed this, but I’m glad she’s okay. Were there any customers in the store when this happened?
Many thanks,
Fawn, Owner
From: Jack Grisby
Sent: Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 2:48 PM
To: Fawn Birchill
Re: She’s okay
Hi Fawn,
Yes, there were four I think and one helped to try to pull her head out and that’s when it came unstuck so I thanked him very much and gave him a discount on his book I hope that’s okay.
Jack
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 3:01 PM
To: Jack Grisby
Re: She’s okay
That’s fine, Jack. I would have done the same thing myself.
Many thanks,
Fawn, Owner
June 14, 2019
There is an update on the graffiti. I am embarrassed to write this, but I believe it’s important that I acknowledge (even if I don’t admit it to Mark) that there has been a slew of vandalism this month in West Philadelphia. Authorities are saying that homes are being targeted and the culprits are most likely kids off school, punchy from the heat and bored with nothing to do. Apparently the graffiti itself isn’t gang related but instead, as I previously opined, amateurish and laced with childish profanities, which points to bored high school kids. Luckily for me, Mark has assumed it was one of the kids.
So yes, I made a bad judgment call by immediately accusing Mark. But with all that he has done, is it really so impossible for me to think that it could have been him? Was that really such a great leap in logic? Still, I really can’t believe that I did that.
phillysmallbiz.com
Wed, Jun 19, 2019
Top Review—The Curious Cat Book Emporium
Today when I asked their new employee to help me find A Moveable Feast, he took me to the culinary section. I thought maybe he was messing with me, so I was like, “Okay, where is it really?” And he looks at me with this blank expression and goes, “Well, we can order it for you.” I would have thought I was being punked, but the kid let me leave without buying anything, so I think his dumbness was for real. Do their employees read at all?
—Brittany G.
phillysmallbiz.com
Wed, Jun 19, 2019
Dear Brittany G.,
I apologize profusely that Jack was not able to show you where we keep A Moveable Feast. Please return, and I will be happy to show you. The fact that he took you to the culinary section is perhaps a reflection on the failing education system and not his own lack of interest in literature.
Fawn, Owner, The Curious Cat Book Emporium
phillysmallbiz.com
Wed, Jun 19, 2019
Top Review—The Curious Cat Book Emporium
Um, so their cat scratched me when I tried to remove him from the chair I wanted to sit on. All I did was pick him up by the scruff like a mother cat, and he totally freaked and drew blood! Why are they letting violent animals interact with customers?
—Stefanie C.
phillysmallbiz.com
Wed, Jun 19, 2019
Dear Stefanie C.,
I must ask that you first look to your choice of actions regarding Bert, and do not blame him outright for lashing out at you, as you say. I have known this cat to be nonviolent ever since he came into my life. Sometimes he is found curled up on one of our many chairs, as is his customary habit. If you want to sit in one of those chairs, you have two options: you may either sit in another chair or wait for him to leave the current chair. Pushing him off the chair or grabbing him by the back of the neck and dragging him down are not options. I have never had to ban anyone from my store except the year I opened when an older man came in and regularly slept and urinated on one of the couches (it has since been reupholstered); however, I may need to add another notch to my belt. So that I may sufficiently ensure that you will not come back and harm Bert again, what is your full name, please? Your PSB photo is blurry—perhaps on purpose?