I would like to support my locally-owned bookstore, which is close enough to my house that I can walk there and back within an hour. But every time I check their online store to see whether they have the book I want to read, it says “ships from warehouse in 3-6 days.” It’s not so much that I’m in a hurry — I most often buy books through Alibris, and have them shipped media mail. But I can’t see why I should pay them, in essence, to place an order for me. The bookstore feels less like a community partner and more like a government agency levying a tax. And the fact that my preferred reading is so rarely found on their shelves tells me that I am not really part of their community, anyhow. Though I know that just from walking around the place.

What I want from a bookstore is ecumenical chaos. This is not the same as having everything. But it is to be open to having anything.