Children not allowed to read at Bookazine
- 06-10-2011, 04:48 PM #9Registered User
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- Nov 2010
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- Hong Kong
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Grrr, I hate the plastic wrapping of ANY books. I've started boycotting the stores that do that. Before, I would just help myself and rip the plastic off so I could have a look inside. I never asked anyone if I could. Figured if they wanted me to make a purchase I had the right to inspect the wares.
Reminds me of when I had my 3 year old with me, entering a library when I was stopped by over-vigilant staff saying children could not go into the library. He is well versed on library etiquette and loves going in there, so I asked the lady if she would like to babysit him for me. When she said no, I just proceeded in with him and ignored her.
- 06-10-2011, 04:53 PM #10
ozmerc, that reminds me of the over zealous exhibitor at ARTHK11 who were complaining about how the 'art' wasn't for school tours and that they didnt' know how to appreciate them anyways!
I was told this by a friend. If i had been there I would have loudly said 'well then, let's go to another booth and appreciate OTHER art so that when you grow up and make money, make sure you don't buy from THIS person'
- 06-10-2011, 06:18 PM #11Registered User
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- Jan 2011
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- HK Island
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- 190
HK bookstores are crap and overpriced. I miss the bookstores in London. Even Taiwan has far better bookstores than HK.
I buy all my books online. There's a good online bookstore in the UK which ships for free worldwide including HK (no minimum purchase amount required). They often charge slightly less than the UK RRP although admittedly don't give the same discounts that Amazon can offer. I "browse" and read the reviews at Amazon, but often place my order at bookdepository.com.
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- 06-10-2011, 06:51 PM #12
i do purchase books online, too. but i much prefer browsing in a shop to ordering online. i always find stuff that i wouldn't have been looking for...good for me, bad for the pocketbook.
- 06-10-2011, 07:17 PM #13Registered User
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- Feb 2009
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- Mid-Levels, Hong Kong
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Sorry, back to the original post! They have a reading area with beanbags and a little table, what do they expect the kids to do there!!! Maybe it was just one stroppy member of staff, I've been there with my nearly 2 year old and he looks at the books while I browse. I usually do make the effort to buy something if he's been looking at a lot of books though ;-)
Agree with those who've said HK bookshops are particularly crap, they only have 'bestselling' authors, they are poorly laid out and that book wrapping thing is idiotic - I just take the wrapping off myself, no-one's ever said anything about it.
- 06-10-2011, 09:10 PM #14Registered User
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- Jan 2011
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Carang I agree with you that it's nice to actually be able to flip through the books in a bricks-and-mortar store.
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- 06-10-2011, 09:16 PM #15
same reason i haven't bought a kindle... i LOVE the flipping pages, the real, paper books! just not the same... tapping a computer screen...
- 06-10-2011, 09:52 PM #16Registered User
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- May 2009
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- HK
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- 1,623
My thoughts are that the purpose of most, if not all, businesses in Hong Kong is to make money. They aren't all that interested in treating the customer well or presenting a good image. So, if you and your child are hanging out in the bookstore reading books and not buying in their minds you're taking up space, wasting their time and not filling their pocketbook so you'd better leave. I'm not saying that this is the way I think it should be but this is my impression of the way it is. Having said that, if some bookstore worker came up to me and made a stink about it, I would make just as big of a stink about it right back at them. In fact, I would refuse to make my child stop reading their books and force them to seek higher management to deal with me. Then, I would write a letter to the CEO of their company or whatever to voice my opinion. Often, I find in HK, people with very little authority try to throw whatever weight they have around and all it takes is you just saying, "Uh, no. I won't be stopping what I'm doing and what are you going to do about it?" for them to back off and leave you alone. Anyway, I hate the bookstores here because they never have what I need/want even if it's a popular book. So, I'm going to be shopping at Amazon.com from now on.
“Many women have described their experiences of childbirth as being associated with a
spiritual uplifting, the power of which they have never previously been aware …
To such a woman childbirth is a monument of joy within her memory.
She turns to it in thought to seek again an ecstasy which passed too soon.”
~ Grantly Dick-Read (Childbirth Without Fear)
Mother of Two
JMW, boy, born November 29, 2007, 9:43 pm, USA
MJW, girl, born March 17, 2011, 4:14 pm, HK
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