Admit it. When you a are bookstore, what books to you "180"?

[kmla]

By that, I mean flip them around so that they are no longer displayed frontwards.

Childish, yes, I realize.

But it is my small, non-violent, and totally inconsequential way of protesting idiots.

Among my favorites to "180"...

Bill O'Rielly
Rush
John Stossel
Anne Coulter
Cal Thomas

And now: Mary Cheney

I know I'm not the only one who does this.

[benburch]

1. I go a step further...

I put other books in front of them...

[truebrit71]

4. Me too!!!

:evilgrin:

[Tunkamerica]

16. i work in a bookstore

and that is childish and gives us much more work to do at the end of the night (midnight) when we're all ready to go home. I understand the inclination, just think about who you're actually affecting. If someone comes and asks us for the book we either find it where you've hidden it or we lose the sale. If we lose the sale then we don't make plan and then we lose hours for midshifters (scheduled on making sales goals) so people's hours get cut and everyone has to do more work.

[IA_Seth]

37. I feel ya!

Sometimes do the easy thing (flipping books around) because its quick and simple and makes THEM feel good. People need to stop and think who they are truly affecting, and it isn't Ann Coulter or Mary Cheney...its people like Turkamerica. Write a letter to the editor, volunteer for a candidate or a Democratic or Left-Leaning Group. Write your own damn book.

I can't say that it isn't tempting, but think about what kind of impact you are really making.

Go go gadget flamesuit!

[Tiggeroshii]

38. Most bookstore people, aren't union are they?

It's even worse if all you are getting paid is minimum wage or close to it. Is that the case -just outta curiosity?

[Tunkamerica]

45. just shy of minimum wage and NC is a right to work state

so yeah not unionized. its just a "placeholder" job that i got to pay the bills while i look for better work. But I've been there close to 8 months now.

[Richard Steele]

70. Welcome to DU, Tunkamerica!

Hope you can make it to one of the Triangle DU meetups sometime!

[MercutioATC]

42. I wish more people like you would speak out against this petty garbage.

"Hide books"..."fill a cart and abandon it at WalMart"...

They're all incredibly ineffectual ideas dreamed up by activist wannabes without two brain cells to rub together. The only people getting hurt are the employees...and, most of the time, the employees are the very type of people these actions are purporting to support (the working poor who barely make enough to get by, but too much to qualify for any help from the government).

Idiocy is not limited to Republicans.

[Greybnk48]

25. I hide all of Coulter's books behind others too!!

The extra work it causes the employees is their contribution to the cause.

[Llewlladdwr]

41. Nice of you to make that decision for them.

N/T

[Maddy McCall]

48. Yes--and I do the same thing in the DVD section.

:D

[axollot]

62. LOL! Yep been guilty of that at an airport....

When Bush still had supporters. All these politico's books were on this one table, I switched them up and covered what I could. Instead of Bill Clinton and books about him being in the back, they took pride of place in front. The Pro-Bush books were hidden. *sigh* I giggled afterward - it was like a quiet one lady protest.

[axollot]

63. Sorry for the extra work guys! n/t

[LA lady]

2. Thanks

I worked for WaldenBooks for years. You sure make extra work for us!

People are going to seek out what they want. Don't waste your time or booksellers. Just try to teach in other ways.

[Richardo]

.

:thumbsup:

[mortlefaucheur]

3. How about "editing" the UPC barcode w/ a Sharpie? n/t

[NoPasaran]

6. Aside from creating extra work for the staff

And irritating anyone waiting in line, what good does that do?

It's not like you're changing the content of the book.

[benburch]

8. And that is vandalism.

Moving a book is one thing, defacing it is quite another.

[Tunkamerica]

17. yeah, that only hurts the bookstore

and it's against the law since you don't have any right to edit anything till you buy it.

and even so you're only giving more work to the cashier who now has to look the book up in the system to figure out its price.

[tuvor]

5. People are free to read what they want.

I'm not about to make it difficult for them to exercise their rights.

[Richardo]

10. ...and think about this:

RWers who buy their books at B&N or Powell's are spending their Bushbucks at solid blue stores. Part of that money gets contributed to Dems.

Sweet, I call it. So I *love* it when I get a request for the latest Savage or Coulter book. LOVE. IT. :thumbsup:

[oneighty]

7. Oh! I thought I did somebody wrong.

180

[peacetalksforall]

9. Do you consider the costs to the sellers, especially the independent

small bookstores. Everyone should work for a retail store once in their life to realize the costs involved in the ideas suggested. What good does it do to punish a retailer because of contempt for an author?

[kmla]

14. Punish a retailer? How?

I really don't think that the economy will screech to a halt, and all of the major bookstores will suffer a drop in stock prices because I turn a book backwards.

[Tunkamerica]

18. read the second post

[peacetalksforall]

21. Let it work itself out. New book stores get to send the unsold books

back for a small credit - but if you make it harder to find a book that is a possible lost sale to a seller who has to pay a lot of overhead in a depleted market. If you mark up the book - it won't go back. You really want to rebel against the publisher, not a hardworking store owner.

If you go into a thrift store you will see many unsold Limbaugh and Coulter books. I have been trying to find a used copy of the David Brock book, Blinded By The Right, for a couple of years - the good books are kept - the trash is donated. We've had discussions on this forum about how the right wing supports these right wing writers and we've shared suspicions about their ranking on the best seller lists.

Let the trash settle to the bottom. Don't punish struggling sellers.

Nor fair. And defacing may be against the law.

[genieroze]

53. My husband read that one, I'm reading Bush On The Couch. Here is

some
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0812930991/ref=dp_olp_2/103-5910440-4021464?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[axollot]

64. I have blinded by the right....

great book! My hubby had it before we were together, in fact when we started dating he asked me to read it......I guess it was a way for him to make sure I was proper "wife" material *giggle*

[axollot]

66. Have you checked Amazon.com?

Amazons got a huge list of used books. Blinded by the right should be there. I sell on Amazon new and used books to help get me through college. I am sure you will find a good used copy and be quite surprised at the price too!

maybe this link will help - I found copies for 1.53!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/102-8259204-4530566?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=stripbooks%3Arelevance-above&field-keywords=blinded%20by%20the%20right

long I know sorry =(

[axollot]

65. I have worked for many retailers...

To be honest my thoughts were simple (minded now i guess) to make it harder to find the books, some people may not ask for help to find the books.

[uppityperson]

11. People are free to read what they want, will find it anyway

I will not cause extra work for the workers. Now, if I could 180 the people themselves, that would be worthwhile.

[HughBeaumont]

12. Borders tends to display Repuke books prominently, cover side out

I just shelve them properly - like the REST of the books.

[insane_cratic_gal]

13. Anything by Dr. Phil

[deaniac21]

15. There is nothing that feels beeter than leading a purposeful life!

[sweetheart]

19. I "180" and avoid the bookstore

corporate corporate coroproate... the corporations
have porgressives fighting between ourselves over a
corporate frame created by market monopoliization and
wage laws that put people in places that they are not
demographically belonging-to... so they try to edit
the spaces to "180" the space to their liking... so they
don't feel enslaved to mammon.

Realize that the corporate frame of making and selling the
books through the limited oligopoly is the problem, and the
internet is the publishing solution. Book stores are about
to get "video store'd" out of mainstream in to niche markets.

[insane_cratic_gal]

20. I worked for Borders ages ago

One of the best companies I've ever worked for, they treated me very well.

I was pregnant at the time too, and sick for the first 4 months of my pregnancy. They often allowed me to leave early or sent me home because I couldn't keep a lick down. They never complained or made me feel guilty, a merger job but the Mgt there I've never found a better boss.
The wage wasn't any worse then working for a temp agency in DC.

[sweetheart]

22. Abebooks.com

I believe the real future of bookshops will transcend the amazon model
towards linking all the niche bookshops like has been done with abebooks.com.

On that site, not only can you find books that are "in print" but all out
of print titles as well, collectable books and the results help people realize
how large the world of enlish language publishing is between india, the uk,
canada and australia.. things that are not monopolized by amazon.com or
borders.

I think we all got a better wage before bush came around, there was a lovely
surplus and generosity what went with it before the coup-2000 and the descent
in to war crime. The world cannot afford to read books all 6-7 billions, so
electronic media clearly holds the future no matter the wages blockbuster
used to pay before netflix.

[insane_cratic_gal]

23. Perhaps

But I hate reading books online.. lol call me old fashion but I need a book in my hands to feel gratified. I can't do books on tape or dvd either for the same reason, there is nothing to physically hold.

Thing is how will they keep those electronic books from being downloaded and shared with media sharing files? You'd almost have to buy a pass to each book on the site and never be able to officially download it to your pc otherwise you risk it being burnt to cd or shared with 1,000 on lime wire.

[sweetheart]

26. printers - totally agree

Colour printers are dirt cheap. If you put a colour
printer/internet computer in a rural villiage of africa, say,
all books that can be printed, are in the library.! Online
reading for those who can't afford to print, I much prefer
printed reading, but i believe this is still due to the resolution,
of a fine printed peice that is still orders of magnitude finer
than what pixel-screens offer... and my eyes go nuts trying to
focus on edges that are actually fuzzy, trying to find an accurate
edge to letters that are screen-blurred for the pixels...and after
25 years of full time computer work, my eyes need glasses.. no suprises.

By the very expression here on DU, we contribute to the public model
of writing, of sharing ideas for free so that we, as a public
can have a baseline of cultural knowledge, or if we privatize
all knowldge, our cultural baseline slides towards nihilism,
where prison-barrio-culture created by the drugs war is
the only common denominator of society, as portrayed in so many
films and musical videos.. yo.

Anyone in the world can print out your post, a book on
amazon is still trying to extract economic merit for its
writer, and i respect that, but let the public model compete,
and i'll wager we overtake them in the end. Knowledge Is
what is public, truth be told, yes. That is how universities
are able to establish a record of truth, by public knowledge,
not corporate knowledge. I'm very happy MIT offers its courses
online for the public, or the baseline of knowledge would
be very spooky indeed... by one university offering to "dump"
knowledge for free, it drags them all in. But the question
arises, have they actually dumped wisdom, knowledge or just facts.

Wisdom unprintable, we're screwed, but one can at least try. :-)

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

[GirlinContempt]

71. First of all, abe are assholes

But thats another story. But, most of the sellers on Abe have shops. I work in a shop that deals with Abe. If suddenly the book market turned to the internet, I probably wouldn't have a job.

[genie_weenie]

24. Hmmm, why do you punish low paid plebes?

Because they are the ones who have to do extra work fixing the store up after your pranks. It's not like Coulter is going to stop talking or go broke if 1 or 100 or 10,000 brainwashed people don't buy her book because they can't find it after your move...

I think anyone who has ever worked as a server or in retail would be against your Great Defiant Act of Civil Disobediance...

Keep sticking it to the Man! :sarcasm:

[Warren DeMontague]

36. I spent YEARS working in retail...

and frankly, people moving shit around on the shelves is the least of your average retail worker's problems. It's pretty much figured in at most places that it's gonna get done, anyway.

Personally, I would probably appreciate the implied symbolism, and the knowledge that some of my customers were on the same page as me. Shit, if I could get away with it, I'd probably be the one covering up Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly's foul, scowling mugs myself.

[Tunkamerica]

46. well, at quarter after midnight

when there's still straightening to be done and you start to realize people aren't just being slobs, they're actually misplacing titles just to give you extra work... and it's happening every single night. Then you come to me and tell me how you appreciate their oh-so-clever subversionary tactics that don't actually do anything. Oh and Republicans do it too. All our current events books get flipped around and left in bathrooms, etc.

You all (people who do this type of thing) need to grow up and realize that just because "someone else is paid to clean up after you" doesn't mean you're entitled to be as slovenly or immature as you want.

Sorry, but I just got home from work and once again the store was trashed.

[genie_weenie]

72. This is worse than just messing up stores

which is bad enough and sucks when you have to spend an hour after store closing fixing up the displays.

What strikes me in the tone of these posts is the first step towards censorship. People who would hide or remove a book so others can not see it definitely have a streak of Censorship and a feeling of "I-know-what's-best" attitude.

The mere act indicates the 180ers think by removing the item they can affect people's thoughts and ideas. It's an easy slippery slope which leads to more active methods to inhibit those "Evil" books.

And as has been pointed out, brainwashed people who believe the filth Hannity and Coulter spew forth are going to find a way to find those tomes and lavishing absorb every false and hateful word inside.

At best what could be said about this practice is it is childish.

[MsTryska]

27. i've never doen that....

but i had a friend that did that to all L. Ron Hubbard books.

usually whilst mumbling about mind control.

[earth mom]

28. Didn't know about this practice-now I do-Thanks!!!

:evilgrin:

[Sequoia]

29. Heh, heh...I do it!

birds do it, bees do it
even educated fleas do it
let's do it, let's TURN A BOOK
in spain, the best upper sets do it
lithuanians and letts do it
let's do it, let's TURN A BOOK

[aikoaiko]

30. edited: I misunderstood.

[lies and propaganda]

31. I love this!

Im totally 180ing from here on out, thanks!

(to share one of my faves: I enjoy sending articles I find of importance to the postage paid envelopes I receive in the mail. I get tons of cc applications for my business, so I get to send a lot of random people something that may change one persons mind.)

[Tunkamerica]

47. yeah how about you don't and just tell everyone you do

[lies and propaganda]

75. how about you act like a tool.

sweet.

[Stinky The Clown]

32. I always thought it would be cool to use an old magazine trick

.... the 'blow in' ...... those carboard cards they blow in between the pages of magazines. The ones that always fall out when yu open the magazine. The ones that advertize all sorts of things targeted to magazine's market.

Make little cheap-o cards with your own message and just slip -em into the book as you 'browse' it.

Do no harm.

Do some good.

[Buns_of_Fire]

34. I agree. That's always been my way of dealing with it.

Just a small slip of paper gently dropped within the book, lovingly typed and trimmed to an appropriate size by yours truly. Sometimes text, sometimes a reprinted editorial cartoon, sometimes both. No vandalism, no 180ing, nothing that would cause the employee any extra work or hardship (I've done many of the jobs mentioned in this thread, so I know what a pain in the ass it can be to "undo" some of the more obvious expressions of distaste, whether I agree with the underlying sentiment or not).

Pretty passive-aggressive of me, but then I've always been a sneaky little SOB anyway. :evilgrin:

[mwb970]

33. Just Coulter. (n/t)

[Warren DeMontague]

35. I'll put Hunter S. Thompson in front of Michael Savage

Robert Anton Wilson in front of William Bennett, Bill Clinton in front of Ronald Reagan... that kind of thing.

Shhh.

[TexasLawyer]

39. Deception Dollar bookmarks

Some times I'll hide a few of these in the books. They make slendid bookmarks.


http://www.deceptiondollar.com/8+/I8Front.jpg

[MercutioATC]

44. See, THAT'S a sensible way to do it.

:toast:

You're getting the message across without harming workers. THAT'S exactly the sort of thing we should be doing.

[genieroze]

54. Can you buy these in bulk, I love it.

[TexasLawyer]

76. I buy them by the box of 4,000

It costs money, but it makes me feel good to spread these bills around "liberally." I don't smoke or drink or gamble, so I figure I'm allowed to splurge on my Deception Dollars.

Here's one of the places you can buy them:


http://www.waronfreedom.org/ddolars.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

60. I do the same thing

Except I use these cards and I put them in the books in the "Left Behind" section.



I just wish I could see people's reactions when they find them. Oh well.

[LeftyMom]

40. Babywise, by Gary and AnnMarie Ezzo

A fine book on how to starve and abuse your child into submission. :puke: If I have them with me (and I try to carry a few around for just this reason) I try to put a flyer with the American Academy of Pediatrics warning about this book and it's methods inside the books, otherwise I'll just turn them around or put a Dr Sears book in front of them.

[SPKrazy]

43. I've Done It Too, Same List

Add any of the books bashing Clinton in the 90's

and others I don't remember

[JVS]

49. None, because such an action is too immature for me.

Which is pretty immature considering that my friends and I consider it good form to pelt each other with our empty beer cans.

[Endangered Specie]

50. That is just stupid and immature

only creates more hassles for the workers, and sounds just a little too much like a smokeless version of book burning to me.

[Nevernose]

51. It's not technically illegal to throw them in the trash can

At least in my state, if someone were to gather all the Sean Hannity books and deposit them in the bottom of the men's room garbage can, it wouldn't technically be illegal. Unless I destroyed them, defaced them, or carried them past "the last point of purchase," I'd be in the legal right.

Is it moral? Still working on the internal debate, but the TEMPTAION is already there.

[peacetalksforall]

73. Please thing logically. It's lost revenue whether you destroy a book

in the store or walk out with it without paying. It is thievery. You might aw well hold up the owner as far as what you're doing to their bottom line. Think it through.

It might be more earth beneficial if you found good writings in French for low prices and shipped them off to Haiti or found books in any language and sent them to a library in New Orleans.

[genieroze]

52. I wipe snot on them.

just kidding. I would like to take them to the restroom and use them for toilet paper but I really don't have the nerve. When I see books I don't like I just cringe and walk away.

[NMMNG]

55. Such an idea never crossed my mind

I'm in the habit of straightening bookstores as I shop, not messing them up. It's a compulsion I have from working in them for over five years and cleaning up after slobs and rude people who think it's OK to trash the place and let near minimum-wage workers clean up after them.

[depakid]

56. I also 180 magazines in the checkout lines

:evilgrin:

OK, so it's childish....

Cuts down on the viual noise.

[jane_pippin]

57. Cool. Then can I come to where you work and rearrange your workspace?

I thought not.

And you're right--you aren't the only one who does that. Unfortunately.

[davekriss]

58. The bookstores I frequent

don't carry those authors very often if at all.

Support your local (leftist) bookstores, all!! :)

[LWolf]

59. NONE.

As a believer in freedom of speech, I don't seek to censor that which I don't agree with. As a former librarian and a lifelong bibliophile, I don't treat books with disrespect. I leave that to the thugs in F451. As a lifelong independent thinking person, I believe that truth will out regardless of any propaganda, and I value dissent.

[tlsmith1963]

61. I've Noticed...

Liberal books being put into other sections at my bookstore. I think someone is trying to make sure that brain-dead conservatives see them. Good for them!

Tammy

[xmas74]

67. I don't do that.

Instead, I make recommendations. If someone is looking at the book while I'm looking at another one I simply make a recommendation in a nonbullying manner.

"Have you read that book yet? I've heard reviews that say it's not that great."

Then I pull out another book and tell them that I have read (name of the book) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also ask the person if they can recommend anything to me.

I've noticed people in bookstores tend to be more receptive to what others think. And you seem to be able to tell who would be more receptive to a recommendation or to making one of their own. A few times people have picked up the book I've recommended and have informed me that they enjoyed it. (I live in a small town and there's only one bookstore so you're bound to run into the person eventually.)

Also, some bookstores have staff recommendations and customer recommendations that are prominently displayed at the front of the store. If yours does MAKE A RECOMMENDATION! (Caps are not yelling in this case but rather to get the point across.) I make recommendations all the time and they do listen to me. And what happens is once a customer makes a recommendation a staffer might get interested. They will sometimes read the book and then put it on their recommendation list. So, the book you originally recommended gets displayed for multiple weeks since others might put it on their lists.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

68. Mostly the same ones. Add Hannity to that list.

[nashville_brook]

69. guilty -- but it's not the 180 -- sometimes

people have already covered up something interesting with a hannity or limbaugh tome. i just move the offending books back where they belong and tidy up the shelf for MY authors.

[Seabiscuit]

74. I prefer a twist - I put my favorite books in front of the gross books.

So all anyone who looks at those shelves of books sees is the ones I'd read.

Once in a while I'll just flip the offensive ones.

Most times I don't even bother to look.