Greetings to anyone who's tripped across this site via my friend Scott - I hardly know how to respond to such lavish praise as his, except to say, "Thank you," and protest that, unlike Oscar Wilde, I have nothing to declare. Period. But here I go, regardless....
Scott is, in fact, the inspiration behind my blog, and I owe him that debt of gratitude, among others. Back when we worked together at the bookstore, he was one significant reason why I chose (that's right: chose) to work Saturdays again. Anyone who has had the pleasure and privilege of working with him knows why: serving customers becomes an event.
Reading of his travails while managing a record shop rings a few bells of recognition. Scott, after all, saw the bookstore close to become yet another outlet for That Global Coffee Chain. What does the future hold for his record shop? A recent Washington Post item (expired from the site, alas) quoted one record store owner as saying the issue for him is how to navigate the next 2-3 years. He speculated that the larger stores might make it through to five, or seven years. But by year ten, he said, "It's lights out for all of us." Yikes! Personally, I'm going to miss the physical product: graphics, liner notes, pictures of the performers, etc. In the "If-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now" category: I'd have invested significantly more time and money on my vinyl collection. Issues of wear-and-tear aside, the vinyl album remains a triumph of tactile, multi-media packaging. The CD, alas, was but a passing wave in a technological sea change...
No comments:
Post a Comment