The news of Border's impending closure due to bankruptcy proceedings came as more than a news item to me. Although it was not entirely unexpected given all the going ons in the current economy, it was still enough to induce a wan smile tinged with a sense of regret & loss on my face.
That the concept of a bookstore would be consigned to history books & nostalgia never occured to me when I first came to the country . When as a jobseeker Border's would not only be a place of refuge , it would also be a place where one could for a few hours lose the laden feeling that life can sometimes bring.
Where else can you read a book, sip on a hot mug of coffee, people watch or get some work done or maybe even set up a blind date . The bookstore at once served as microcosm of some of the more serene undertakings.
Some people would argue that Border's got their rightful comeuppance as they uppended the family run or local book stores & the lives of people who managed them. In this I differ , unlike many notorious examples of chains overrunning mom & pop shops consequently killing the novelty & the uniqueness and replacing it with a manufactured & maybe banal experience (think starbucks & local coffee shops or chain restaurants taking out local eateries) , Borders actually complimented & maybe helped locally run book store businesses. While the concept of a book store was always there in public consciousness it was revolutionized by Border's. It can be truly argued that it made going to Bookstore sexy. In any case the economy is proving to be a nemesis for bookstores regardless of whether they are answerable to shareholders or to grandpa.
This digital revolution is proving to be much like the amorous & demanding mistress who thrills at times before plunging you into despair. It is rendering things simpler but in its enormous wake it is bringing down cherished institutions . True it is the inevitable march of time. But some things are meant to last forever.
