The Early Bird gets fast-food

The schedule changed a little this year for Beth David Synagogue's annual book sale. Instead of a preview sale on Saturday night with wine and snacks, the preview sale started early Friday morning. Which meant die-hard dealers running the car heat and then standing in line in record-breaking (for North Carolina) 5-degree F weather.

My toes were so cold, I hobbled along like an ancient person for the next hour.

I'm not usually the first person in line, and this was *officially* no exception. However, since I'd dropped off a family member at the airport at a ridiculous hour, I arrived at the dark, deserted building two hours early.

Did I mention it was 5 degrees?

I didn't even put the car in park in the ice-covered parking lot. After driving up Friendly Avenue and starting back down, again, I found a McDonald's, went inside and ordered coffee and a hash brown. Just a little something to while the time in a heated area.

Back to Beth David. As a bookseller for the past four years, I still have plenty to learn. My lesson for-the-day was that, on cold, dark mornings, dealers place boxes and handtrucks in line at the door. If I'd known that, I would've thrown an old box on the sidewalk when I first arrived. Not that it really mattered. Most of the die-hards were mega-sellers with scanners, which means they go to different tables than I do as we pour through the door.

I put my warm body in line for the last 20 minutes, stamping my feet and conversing with dealers from as far away as Atlanta.

Either I didn't find much, or I'm growing more discerning. I drove home with a handful of books, including a first edition of Aldous Huxley's nonfiction follow-up to Brave New World, Brave New World Revisited.