In this morning’s paper, there was an article about a man named Omar Amin, a 73-year-old physician and grandfather, who was shopping for books to give his grandchildren. As doctors are prone to do, he answered a cell phone call. Somebody complained, and a Barnes and Noble employee removed him from the store.
Apparently there is a rule that no adult males can be in the childrens section alone. Barnes and Noble policy. I conclude that a Barnes and Noble employee’s time is better served escorting out a paying customer instead of standing in the childrens section until that customer makes a selection.
Driving away customers makes good business sense. Nothing like the presumption of guilt on the many for the actions of the few. Every unaccompanied man is defined as a sex offender according to Barnes and Noble.
My Plan
I had a number of errands to run today, and since I would be near the store anyway, I decided to pay a visit. My plan: Walk into Barnes and Noble, enter the Childrens section, search for the book Alpha Oops by Alethea Kontis, twitpic a photo, call my daughter who left last night for a group trip to California, then leave. I also planned to put my camera into my pocket, recording video in case any interesteding audio occurred.
The Events
I arrived at about 10:15am and spent approximately 10 minutes in the store, almost all of that in the childrens section. There was a male employee in the area, moving books around, stocking shelves, and what not. At one point, we made eye contact. I suppose my eyes said “I dare you to kick me out.” His eyes said to me, “I know you are here to get kicked out, it isn’t going to happen.” I continued searching for Alpha Oops down every single aisle in the area, but I never did find it. (That kind of irked me, but I did buy a copy when it first came out.)
The section has a couple of small tables in the center of the area where the younger kids books are shelved, as well as a bench. I took a photo with my phone of a book called A Fat Cat Sat on a Mat, and sent it to Twitpic because I couldn’t find Alpha Oops. Next, I sat on the bench and phoned my daughter. (She is having a good time spending the day on the beach.)
All the while I was in the area, there must have been five or six kids, all little girls, and none over the age of eight. Each one of these children had brought their mommy to the store with them. I ignored all the kids, I ignored all the mothers. I went about my business, and when I did not find the book I wanted to see, I left.
Conclusion?
The 73-year-old foreign-born Arabic doctor who speaks with an accent was asked to leave the store. The 47-year-old Wisconsin-born white guy was left completely alone other than the two seconds of eye-contact.
I was in the area as an unaccompanied man for ten minutes. I made a cell phone call while sitting on the bench. I texted a picture of a book. I wore a Coyotes tee-shirt and a pair of olive knee-length shorts (as opposed to Dr. Amin, who appears to dress better than I do.) I was left completely alone the entire time I was there.
Make of that what you will. I was not asked to leave, but neither was I offered any help finding the book I wanted to see. I find it interesting, but I don’t know what to conclude from the incident.
Maybe I just look trustworthy. More likely, B&N were instructed to keep a low-profile.