If you shop there and are ready to check out, prepare to come face-to-face with the bible thumpers we all slam the door on! I want to say right now that this post is NOT Christian bashing. It's Books-A-Million bashing!
I haven't been to BAM! in a few years, and back then, it was still "Books-A-Million". Apparently, BAM! is now a Christian book store... though you won't see it advertised that way. Nice to hear for some of you, I'm sure, and I don't care if it is, but I DO care when it is used to bash ME!
I took my daughter to buy a journal a few weeks ago, and chose BAM! instead of Barnes and Noble because it was closer. When we were checking out, there were some Christian trinkets and themed stationary surrounding the counter. She was asking me what some of it meant, and the guy behind the counter interrupted and started on about Jesus Christ and celebrating him.
My daughter has had so much negative experience from Christians that she is now bitter toward them at the ripe old age of 10, so she walked away and waited for me to finish the transaction. (I don't just mean that she doesn't like Christians. She is downright terrified of them and gets very emotional when she thinks someone is preaching to her.)
I didn't acknowledge his preachiness, just signed the receipt, grabbed the book and left.
There was a bookmark and pen that my daughter had wanted but I didn't have the money at the time. I thought I'd go back and get them, and wouldn't you know, Preachy Boy has a girlfriend! Really glad the child wasn't with me this time, although, I probably would have let loose, anyway. Just to make her feel safe.
This is the conversation with the clerk (I was very polite, quietly so, even. She, on the other hand, had that holier-than-thou tone we all know and hate.):
"Would you be interested in a Jesus pen today?"
"No, thank you."
"Well, we have some nice writing tablets, bookmarks, these nifty little reading lights..." (all with crosses on them and some with bible verses)
"No, thank you."
"Can I ask why not?" (since this was an odd thing to say, I looked down to see if my pentacle necklace was showing - sometimes, it falls under my collar. It was so I'm going to go out on a limb and guess she saw the necklace and instantly set upon a mission to "save my unholy soul.")
"I'm Pagan." (politely and with a smile)
"I see. Have you considered what the light of our lord savior Jesus Christ has to offer?"
I stood there for a moment, biting down the need to tell her to ram a bible up her ass, looked around (like last time, place was dead - no wonder why), took a deep breath, then answered calmly and politely.
"I'm really not interested. Can you please hand me my bag? I need to go."
"Sure but I was just trying to help you reach Jesus." (very snide, condescending tone as she handed me the bag)
"Well, sweety, that isn't your job. Your job is to make a sale, then tell me to have a nice day and shut your mouth until the next customer comes up. People don't come into a book store to be preached to, unless it is advertised as a religious book store. I realize Books-A-Million has begun carrying a lot of Christian items, but it still isn't categorized as a Christian book store. So I would appreciate not being assaulted with Jesus pimpage just to by a pen and a bookmark."
Most times if I've let myself express my true feelings and there isn't anything really left to say, I leave the situation. I was curious, though, to hear her response, so I folded my arms with my bag in my hand and waited.
"If you know BAM! sells Christian stuff, why do you come in here? I mean, since it obviously offends you so much." (VERY snotty tone and attitude)
You know when you watch a person as they speak and you see that very moment they realize they just fucked up? Yeah, the only thing she didn't do was turn red!
She quickly added in a much nicer, more pleasant (and fake) tone .... "I'm not trying to be rude and I understand this isn't a Christian bookstore, per ce. I was just wondering why you came in if you say we have so much Christian stuff."
"The Christian items don't bother me at all. It's your attitude and the attitude of the guy last time my daughter and I were here.
Look, I remember when Books-A-Million first opened up in my town. This was before they tried to become trendy and call themselves 'BAM!'. Back then, I was a Catholic and one of their largest stores opened up right across from my neighborhood. I was in there all the time because I loved books. Never was there any significant Christian merchandise. There were items mixed within genres, but not shelves of it and large displays like now. A few blocks away was a Christian bookstore where my dad and I would get things for baptisms, weddings, and stuff like that for family members. So I know very well what a Christian bookstore looks like. I don't know why but the owners of Books-A-Million seem to have decided that the best way to bounce back from being nearly obsolete is to turn themselves into a Christian bookstore. I know it's not one but it IS like having one inside of a larger bookstore.
And you know what? I don't care. They own it, they can do with it what they wish. As long as there are still regular things here that appeal to me, I don't mind shopping here.... until I get to the counter and come face-to-face with people like you."
I stopped and looked at her, waiting for it to sink in, and after a few seconds, she replied, "I was just trying to talk with you about my faith. I didn't mean anything by it.. REALLY!" (back with the attitude)
"Okay, well, when do you go on break?"
"Huh?"
"When do you go on break? We can go over there to Joe Muggs (Books-A-Million's indoor café) and I can tell you all about Paganism."
From the look on her face, you would swear I had just reached over the counter and stabbed a knife in her throat! I waited for her to say something, but she just kept staring at me and her eyes seemed to keep getting bigger. I don't know if she just didn't know what to say or if she was horrified at the notion of speaking about "devil worship" (LOL).
When it was clear she wasn't going to respond, I took a deep breath, adjusted my bag, and walked out.
I kept thinking about this until I got curious enough to look up "BAM!" online last night in correlation with religious discrimination. Actually, my exact search was, "Is Books-A-Million a Christian bookstore?" Up pops some articles about their growing practice of pushing out the Pagan and non-Christian areas while the Christian sections continue to grow. I, even, found a petition by a group of Wiccans against a BAM! in Florida after a small Christian fundamentalist group managed to have their monthly fair tossed out of the store after being a fixture for 5 years. This was in addition to the new age/spiritual sections vanishing and being replaced by bibles and other Christian-themed material. I have the link to the petition below in comments. It's a very interesting read!
Anyway, I just wanted to get that off of my chest. I'm not as pissed off as you'd think I would and SHOULD be. I've gotten used to it. When I first accepted addressing myself as Pagan, and openly doing so, 5 years ago, I WAS pissed. Ooohhhh bigtime! That conversation would have gone so much differently back then, and would have ended in her shedding tears. I guess I've just gotten used to it.
I suppose we should never just "get used" to being treated badly. Maybe it's not getting used to it as much as tolerating it now. Shouldn't tolerate it, either... Shit. I don't know what I'm trying to say.
I just don't feel like putting my foot up bigots' asses as much as I used to. Maybe because I know their ignorance hurts them the most. It's the violent zealots we have to worry about, so blow-hards and holier-than-thou bitches aren't that important. Still, inside my mind, I was smacking that bitch 5 ways from Sunday!!! LOL
No comments:
Post a Comment