I'm older than Mr. Klein but have a parallel experience.I lived in the main city of my area, which had an independent bookstore.  I was their loyal customer.Then I made the mistake of becoming their employee, saw what went on behind-the-scenes, and realized that a family-owned business, like a corporate business, can simply reflect the craziness of its owners.  One day, when I was both verbally and physically abused by a floor manager, I walked out.I had been their customer for 14 years and their employee for 3, and until that moment I had been so intensely loyal to "my" local bookstore that I had never bought a book online.  But after that moment I felt at liberty to buy books wherever I got the best price.I now live in a different town, and Barnes & Noble has recently announced that they'll be opening a new store just a few miles from my house.  I intend to shop there.  I realize, of course, that Barnes & Noble is a chain, not a cuddly family-owned enterprise, but as far as I''m concerned, "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, consider it a duck."  So if Barnes & Noble is about to make a commitment as the only bookstore in "my" town, then this will become "my" "local" bookstore.And, no, I won't object to paying more for books at a "brick and mortar" store.  Some things are worth supporting.  And the things I read about working conditions at Amazon have long made me feel complicit and ethically uncomfortable when I shop there.

I'm older than Mr. Klein but have a parallel experience.I lived in the main city of my area, which had an independent bookstore.  I was their loyal customer.Then I made the mistake of becoming their employee, saw what went on behind-the-scenes, and realized that a family-owned business, like a corporate business, can simply reflect the craziness of its owners.  One day, when I was both verbally and physically abused by a floor manager, I walked out.I had been their customer for 14 years and their employee for 3, and until that moment I had been so intensely loyal to "my" local bookstore that I had never bought a book online.  But after that moment I felt at liberty to buy books wherever I got the best price.I now live in a different town, and Barnes & Noble has recently announced that they'll be opening a new store just a few miles from my house.  I intend to shop there.  I realize, of course, that Barnes & Noble is a chain, not a cuddly family-owned enterprise, but as far as I''m concerned, "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, consider it a duck."  So if Barnes & Noble is about to make a commitment as the only bookstore in "my" town, then this will become "my" "local" bookstore.And, no, I won't object to paying more for books at a "brick and mortar" store.  Some things are worth supporting.  And the things I read about working conditions at Amazon have long made me feel complicit and ethically uncomfortable when I shop there.

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