Sunday, November 18, 2012

Cruel in Cheongju

Every time I visit my friend Teri in Cheongju, I always feel a bit of a sucker punch when we go downtown:

Notice the little satellite sign that helpfully reads "page 12".  What was I to think?  What would YOU think?


The first time I saw this, I was walking, yes indeed.  I was smiling, striding.  The theme from Chariots of Fire was crescendo-ing in my head, as were plans to move to Cheongju forthwith.  I rounded the corner smartly, looked past the coffee shop with an expectant smile and saw this:






My smile froze and fell.   I whipped through the five stages with a speed that would have impressed Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

"A clothing store? No way.  The bookstore is probably upstairs, or around here somewhere. I just gotta look harder."

"What. The. Actual. Fuck.  Who in the HELL is responsible for this bullshit?  What kind of stupid idiot names a clothing store BOOK MARK???"

"Maybe there are some books about fashion inside. I don't mind; I can read about fashion, even if it's in Korean.  I really don't mind."

"Why go on??????  What's the use???  Later on, I'll be hungry and I'll probably see a sign that says Cheeseburger in Paradise and it'll just be another superfluous clothing store that markets size 0 clothing."

"Sigh.  Book Mark.  It's a clothing store, sure enough.  Sad but true.  Where's my camera?"


How many other bookworms walking about in Cheongju have felt the sting of this cruel mockery?  I guess it's mean and petty to hope that all of Book Mark's shoppers are merely of the window variety, but I can't help it.

5 comments:

Susan said...

Beyond cruel. If I saw Book Mark, I'd think it was about books too!!! It is so mean....gets your hopes up and then dashed away by fashion of all things.

Anonymous said...

Oh noooooooooo!!!!

BTW, your blog post did a fab job! You tricked me, but got the right reaction! I mean, come on, BOOK MARK is a book store!!!! How could it not be???

(tear falling from my eye)

Unruly Reader said...

That's nothing but wrong. Seriously.

fantsmacle said...

I want to open a book store in Pocatello called McDonalds. Maybe that way I can trick a few Pocatellans into reading.

Kathleen said...

How horrible and disappointing! They should really have to change the name!