I don't enter record stores often any more, but I do like going through
the new releases at Borders now and then.  Since Borders always has them
sitting in boxes under the shelves, that's where I can be found.

I was doing my usual at Borders a few days ago when a sales clerk asked if
he could help me; I told him I was doing fine.  However, he stood hovering
over me.  Finally, he told me that the store did not allow customers going
through the boxes.  I replied that doing just that was the only way for me
to see the store's new releases.  We both held our ground, then he walked
off and came back with the store manager.  More of the same conversation
took place, and the manager eventually said something definitive - "if you
insist on continuing, I'l have to ask you to leave." I told him there was
no point in my being at the store if I could not peruse the new releases.
He said, "you'll have to leave then." I got up and left saying, "I've spent
thousands of dollars in this store over the past year.  Now you won't get
an additional cent." Right, what does he care?

I have written their corporate headquarters, emphasizing the attractiveness
of a win-win situation.  I don't expect any satisfactory conclusion.  In
a way, I can't lose.  I only buy on the net these days, and less store
temptation is a good thing.  Also, I feel that I'm adhering to a sturdy
principle and will not renege on it.  As I've mentioned before, the cd's in
these boxes are already packaged, priced, and depleted of "ordered" discs.
They are ready for shelf placement.  What they apparently aren't ready for
is efficient handling.  It does burn me up to think that I always placed
discs in their proper shelf area when I saw one in the wrong place.

So, I'm not exactly banned; I can go back if I do not repeat my practices.
But, I choose to boycott this store.  It does not meet high standards, and
I don't really need it for anything.  It's a border-line store.

Don Satz
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