I will soon be on my way to sell tickets for the second week opening night of 7B/7B....of course we are sold out.
But there are people who telephone for reservations who do not believe it. They think for some reason, we are holding tickets back and not selling them....we want empty seats in the theatre and we just don't want them to see the show.
They ask the same question several different ways expecting a different answer.....sold out means NO tickets left....I would love to sell you a ticket....I would love to take your $$$, but it's not possible......
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, we have no tickets available for any night."
"How about on Saturday?"
"No."
"But there was a picture in the newspaper tonight....."
"I know."
DR Jrand, your anecdote reminds me of my time working at Barnes & Noble. Just like we know when there's a full moon by the batty behavior we see around us, at the store, we knew when Oprah unleashed upon the great unwashed the latest payola book she was pushing. A few examples of the demographic she reaches(ed):
1) Ken Follett's PILLARS OF THE EARTH: "Oprah had this book on the show [not the author, the book] and we want to get a copy."
It costs $35 and only comes in hardcover. "But I can't read a hardcover!" OR "It's $35!" OR "It's 700 pages and it has no pictures!" OR "We'll wait for the paperback." Some time later, when the paperback was released, the publisher to save money (my guess), printed this book in Oxford Unabridged Dictionary style, requiring a magnifying glass. "That's the paperback?! It's still too much!" OR Oprah fans were expecting to find a "beach read" in a pocketbook format. Can't do that with a hardcover that's 700 pages, sorry.
2) Steinbeck's EAST OF EDEN: "Oprah had the author on today's show [we would say that would have been impossible, but people insisted that the long-dead Steinbeck was on Oprah, maybe she's a necromancer, after all how do you explain Stedman]" OR "That book's too long" OR "I thought that was a new book. That was written a long time ago, I don't want it."
3) THE FLAT BELLY DIET: "Oprah had this book on her show today, I want it." When this book was first hawked by Oprah, it was exclusively available through the publisher's (Rodale) website WITH a subscription to Prevention magazine. Customers could not understand that B & N did not have the book, even after showing them Rodale's website.
My all-time favorite, though, was when the local schools would have the summer reading lists. The good students would come in right away. The others would show up in the waning days of summer vacation. Better yet, the parents would come in as proxies for their scholars at home. The two most asked questions: "How many weeks can we check these out?" AND "Which books on this list: are the skinniest/have the most pictures/illustrations/have Cliff's/Spark Notes?"
