So there I was, at Barnes and Noble, pursuing through the books to see if any would catch my fancy tonight.
When I saw a woman a set of books in hand, march up to the help desk and ask.
"Are these books all the same?"
At first glance, it did appear that they were all the same. For every book she laid out on the desk had the words "I am Number Four" in large print on the side.
But, I doubted that they were all the same just from that glance, mostly because books don't always print out multiple covers for one book. That would be confusing for sure.
The girl at the help desk agreed with me. "They are the same in that they're all part of the same series." She said trying to be helpful. -I don't think she'd read them, as I could hear that "you can't expect me to know everything' tone in her voice -very faint, only one who's worked in a similar job can hear it."
I missed the next part of the conversation as I got distracted by a book,
but then I heard the woman say "Well, let's just read the first page of each book and see if they're the same or not."
And I felt like hitting my head. Really? Why didn't you consider that in the first place?
Though, I think she was trying to prove a point. Perhaps she already had done this and found them to be the same, hence her confusion.
A little while later I heard the girl say "Well this one is 'extended files'"
"What does that mean?"
"Well, it's like...a companion guide to the main series, I think this isn't part of that series, but it probably contains short stories and such that relate to the book."
And finally it was established which books she needed....for who knew who.
So the woman put back the books, and I slid by to see.
Yes.
They all said "I AM NUMBER FOUR" on them, but below the big print was smaller print. "Hidden Secrets." "Extended Files."
And I just had to wonder.....why that wasn't obvious to the woman that the books were different.....If there's a slight variation in the title...that means it's a different book.
*shakes head*
-Sarnic Dirchi
