Faking Sanity

In the Beginning…

Posted by perian - 24/06/10 at 01:06:42 am

Three days ago my mother created a monster. We were talking on the phone and she made a joking, off-hand comment about how I should open a used bookstore in Dawson Creek, my hometown.  I joked back about how she could help finance it and we moved on. When I got off the phone, I joked about it with mtlaise and then headed for bed.

And lay in bed all night, wide awake, thinking about it.

It’s been my dream to open a used bookstore/coffee shop for years, but in that kind of “some day” sense. Y’know… some day, when I have the money. Some day, when I know more about running a business. Some day…  I’ve talked about it with all my friends and mtlaise had joked about how she could run the coffee shop part of it, since I don’t even drink coffee.  I have all sorts of ideas for what I’d like to do to make the business work.  But I had never considered moving back to Dawson Creek to do it.

The next morning, mtlaise and I turned to each other and went “Are you seriously thinking about this? Because I am.”  And since then it’s been pretty much all we could talk about — coming up with ideas, making lists, trying to figure out how to deal with obstacles, etc. Today it was panicking when a coworker pointed out that my contract with the book company I currently work for forbids me from working for any other book retailer for 3 years after leaving the company.  Luckily, when I checked said contract I found that it specified certain large book companies who are in direct competition, not all book retailers (thank god!)

And tomorrow we’re heading up to DC for a vacation that’s been in the works for months. 10 hours in the car to rehash everything we’ve already discussed and come up with new stuff. A chat with my mom to get the reality perspective — will this actually work, can we do it, will she support us?  3 days in DC to scope out the perfect area, visit the Chamber of Commerce to ask questions, check out the competition, and do “market research” (aka pick everyone’s brain for more ideas.) And then 10 more hours in the car to rehash it all over again. Throw in the actual reason I’m going up there in the first place — burying my grandparents’ ashes — and it totally sounds like a vacation, right?

But you know what?  I think we can do it.

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