Yoo-Hoo and P. Susan

On my first day at An Open Book, I was very nervous and quiet. My bosses, Michael and Doug were sitting in the office, only a few feet away while I manned the small selling floor. Michael would shout out requests for a CD change and Doug would just try to make me feel welcome. The phone would ring on occasion, mostly personal calls for Michael and Doug. After a couple of hours, I had gotten used to telling the caller that I wasn't sure if they were still in, but I would check and place them on hold. Michael would usually decide whether or not he wanted to take the call and then he would pick up. If not, I took very detailed messages, as I did not want my new boss thinking I couldn't even handle answering a phone.

A few hours into this first shift, the phone rang and I answered professionally. The caller asked for Michael. I told her that I would check to see if he was in and she interrupted, "I know he is there, I just talked to him, just patch me through please." I said, "Can I ask who's calling?" She said, "No." I asked her to hold and then turned to Michael and said, "There is someone on the phone that will not tell me who it is." He said, "I'm not taking the call unless I know who it is." I got back on the phone and said, "I'm sorry, he is not available right now, can I take a message?" She said, "Yes he is. Tell him it's the First Lady." I did. And he took the call, laughing.

P. Susan stopped into the store shortly after the call to meet me. She introduced herself as the First Lady and I didn't know her name was P. Susan until a few visits after that. Turns out, she had declared herself the First Lady of the bookstore and she was not backing down on that title. Her high school picture was framed and added to displays around the store haphazardly. She would move it around and put it next to her favorite books as if she was endorsing products with her picture. She quizzed me and ask me all sorts of questions- personal and professional and said that she thought I would fit in and saw why they had hired me.

I worked at An Open Book for quite some time, but it was a while before I developed a relationship with P. She was quite famous and seemed to know everyone in town and everyone seemed to know her. She would stop in and give me stacks of bookmarked magazines and newspaper clippings in a recycled bag- all things that reminded her of me. There would be an article about Stevie Nicks, picture of Martha Stewart on the red carpet, a story about a new CD she thought we should have in the store.

One time when she stopped by, I was drinking a Yoo-Hoo. She said, "Hmmm, nobody really appreciates the Yoo-Hoo anymore." I said, "Oh, I do- it's one of my favorite drinks. I love the Yoo-Hoo and I find it to be refreshing." I explained to her that I always buy one at UDF (United Dairy Farmers), because I am afraid they will stop carrying it if nobody buys it. I even told her the slogan for Yoo-Hoo which is "Yoo-Hoo or you don't." She laughed hysterically and couldn't believe I knew that. From that point forward, P. always stopped and got me a Yoo-Hoo to drop off with the media she collected for me. She never told me she was coming and it was always a surprise to see her. I miss P. bringing me my Yoo-Hoos and goodies to read over. She would swing by and hang out with me for a while since I usually worked the evenings on my own. I would do her the same favor- she worked part time at the Riffe Gallery downtown and I would make the trek on my nights off or weekends to see her. I would try to bring her things too- like a cookie or coffee. We used to say that there is nothing like free food. It's true- free food always tastes better.

P. still puts together the newspaper and magazine clippings for me on occasion. She still cuts them out and sets them aside for me. I get them in the mail at random times in a recycled envelope. When I get them in the mail, it reminds me of Yoo-Hoo and I will usually pick up a bottle shortly after reading the clippings.