Chemistry, Luck or Savvy, Probably Need a Little of Each

I'm sitting at my desk, trying desperately to find my list of speed-dial codes for our fax machine so I can show the new girl which buttons to push, when I come across an old print-out. It's five - no, wait, almost six years old, printed on one of the dot matrix printers from back in my customer service days. So old that it has my maiden name on the to: line, and the domain name for my company was actually the name of the publisher, not the parent company who was just about to merge with us.

It's from a friend of mine - "Top Ten Ways to Celebrate Your Birthday" - and suddenly I'm waxing more nostalgic about the bookstore than I have in a long time. Because goddammit, I miss you, Matt.

One of the best things about Booksmith was its crew. Somehow, we always managed to hire people who just clicked together. There was the occasional employee who never quite found a niche, but for the most part, you could look at the schedule any night of the week and think, "that's going to be an excellent shift." Seven years later, and a lot of my favorite people have scattered across the country, in pursuit of other dreams. But when they're in town, I know we can go get a cup of coffee, and suddenly it's just like they've never left. Most of them are people I'd never have met if we hadn't shared those years at Booksmith.

There are very few jobs where your coworkers are also your friends. If Books That Don't Suck gets big enough for employees (aka, people who aren't related to me), I hope I can find that same sort of formula for my own crew.