Blank stare-- "I'm sorry...?"
"Books with numbers for titles... where would they be?"
"Oh! Well--"
"I'm looking for ... I think it was... 1985... or 1987... It was like a post-apocalyptic book."
"Oh... did somebody write a sequel to Orwell?"
A blank stare on her part this time.
"Okay, well, dystopian fiction ends up in sci-fi.... It... it wasn't George Orwell's 1984 you were looking for?"
"I don't know... maybe. It was numbers and I saw it in another bookstore but I didn't get it. It was post-apocalyptic and like, Big Brother."
"Yes... well, 1984 is THE Big Brother book [no look of comprehension or recognition on her part], so I would check under O for Orwell."
She wanders off, still looking desperately lost and confused.
Update:
The same woman, who I would guess is in her mid-twenties, came up to the counter to be rung up.
She buys a couple of very attractive vintage (turn of the century) books.
"Such charming art nouveau covers!" I gush.
"Yeah, right? I'm not going to read them, I just thought the covers were cute. I'm going to, like, stack them and put, like, a candle or a succulent on top."
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