Congratulations to Labyrinth Books for making it onto the symptom list for Princetonitis, a common inflammatory disease specific to the undergraduate student body resulting in self-induced hair removal and mild to severe spasms. Not to mention tears. Oh, the tears. Watching my paycheck for the next seven weeks disappear with one swipe of the Visa Debit and the acceptance of two plastic bags full of used paperbacks from which approximately 30 pages each will be read. (And that's collectively among the entire class.)
I woke up full of optimism. I walked into my first class, started searching the booklist on amazon.com, and then, in a moment of foolhardy hope and faith, I closed the screen and said no to receiving the books within 5-9 business days. Thought process: I only need books for two social science classes. I want to start my reading in less than 5-9 business days. Screw it, I'll just do the normal thing and go to the designated spot of book purchase.
By the time I reached the check-out, I only had eyes for the tile floor. I shoved the receipt, $210.33, into my backpack and skulked out, muttering a depressed word of warning to my Outdoor Action frosh who was just entering. Two classes. Not including Pequod packets. $210.33. Two classes. $210.33. Two classes.
If people really want to know what depresses students, this bookstore should be right up there with grade deflation and the UAL (Use, Abuse and Lose) "dating" culture.
Perhaps Labyrinth does not deserve all the blame. Let's just say that professors who require 7 books and a Pequod packet for one course would not be recipients of a "happy bdayyy!" Facebook wallpost if we were Facebook friends. And if I had only known which courses I was going to take a week ago, today may have been the fifth to ninth business day according to amazon.com. And if I was truly resourceful and motivated, I would be in Firestone now grabbing the last copies of all these books I probably will never need from the shelves. But alas, I am only the Blogstress.
-The Blogstress
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2 comments:
Solution: Amazon Prime is being offered to students for one year free of charge, i.e. free two-day shipping on all products ordered from Amazon (perfect for two semesters of school books plus bday presents). Mark your calendar to cancel it before the trial year is up, and you're all set! I spent $270 on books for two courses on Amazon, which definitely would have been a lot more at Labyrinth. Prime is totally worth it.
I had a prof make us buy a book that cost about $45 at Labyrinth. During class she informed us that we weren't going to discuss the book in precept, but we had to read it so that we wouldn't ask
"stupid questions."
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