I’m not an expert bookstore clerk yet, but I am learning on my volunteer job, mainly from our customers.

For example, last week a young boy suggest that we shouldn’t be selling our used comic books for a dollar before someone who really knows the value of comic books has had a look. So I checked it out. In 2014, a ten-cent Superman comic book sold for $3.2million. Of course, that’s unusual, but you never know, and since all of our sales go toward helping families in the DC public schools, why not charge a bit more for the more valuable comic books? I passed his suggestions on to my “boss.”

A woman on her lunch hour break, thrilled to find a new bookstore talked with me about what she reads. We ended up recommending authors to each other because our tastes are similar. She plans to come back often.

Another customer asked if we could change a $20 bill. It seems she had just had a haircut and needed change for a tip. Well, she had a gorgeous haircut, praised her hairdresser and gave me his name. I called and made an appointment.

And of course, it can’t all be good news. A couple came in with four cartons of books to donate to the store. As we unloaded them, the wife became angry at her former-professor husband and was in tears. “Why are we giving away so many of my books and so few of yours?” she asked.

Just another day at work…