Is it Time for Plan B?
Revert to Plan B (cc) Flickr user mringlein
This American Life did a fine show last year on Plan B:
There’s the thing you plan to do, and then there’s the thing you end up doing. Most of us start off our lives with some Plan A which we abandon…switching to a Plan B, which becomes our life.
Conan O’Brien got bumped to Plan B a few months ago. A lot of good people have had to revert to Plan B during this recession, and all the animals at the shelter are waiting for their Plan B to begin.
But Plan B doesn’t have to be a bad thing. How many of you have found that Plan B led to a better life than you ever imagined under the original plan?
I asked the Fools to share their plans for their lives before BookFool. It was an open-ended question, so we had a wide variety of responses. I’ll kick it off with my short entry:
Luke
My plan went Motorcycle Driver > Chef > Radio DJ > Teacher > Videographer > Marketing/Strategy. When I was a kid, I thought that people driving motorcycles up and down the highway were being paid to ride. Then I planned to be a chef and talked about that plan a lot, so much that people I knew then still ask me when I’m going to culinary school. I guess now I’m on Plan F.
Kris
I’m on Plan B.
- Plan A: Play in the NBA.
- Plan B: Entrepreneur, which started when my father gave me a huge wooden desk around age 6 or 7.
Accountancy was the best avenue I saw to make Plan B work. From age 6 to 14, I went back and forth between Plan A and Plan B.
Like this, only much much bigger! (cc) Flickr user H is for Home
The Story of the Desk
My father’s office of Arthur Young was closing in Fayetteville, AR, I think around 1987. He chose not to move to Austin for the company. The office was giving away all the furniture and my mom pushed my dad to take something. So he snagged a desk. He didn’t take the nicest desk nor did he take something small.
The desk landed in my tiny bedroom and quickly became the fixture of my dreams. I would site behind this tectonic slab of wood and play “store.” I had old checks from my parents I kept in the drawers that felt like real money. There’s no telling what else I had in the drawers. I know I stored my basketball card collection there.
This is the desk I use today. The desktop needs refinishing, and I’ve never had a key to lock the middle drawer, but I hope to use it for many more years.
Casey
Still on Plan A. 
Nicole
Jet Fighter > State Senator > Political Legislative Assistant > Human Resources Manager > Customer Care. I thought I was going to join the Air Force and be a Jet Fighter. Then I wanted to be a SENATOR only to find that the Political World was too harsh for my kind heart, but I fell into HR, which has led me to Customer Care and I couldn’t be happier!
Lou
Well, it kinda went like this:
- In High School I wanted to be a starving artist.
- At the end of High School I was starving and in love!
- Married and had a child soon after graduating high school.
- Entered the Air Force where I would live my life with my family and the military…Plan A.
Plan B Happened….
- Marriage ended in divorce.
- Was introduced to Lisa, my current wife, who was also in the Air Force.
- Left the Air Force to go to college for Advertising Design (starving artist related!).
- Started a wonderful career in that field and progressed to management.
- Landed on BookFool.com mountain and am loving every minute of it.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
YOU!
How about you? What’s your Plan B?
How to get the Best Customer Service
We’re proud of our customer service here at the Fool. Even though we’re not a huge company, we have a dedicated Customer Care Fool who is charged with keeping customers happy throughout the entire purchase process. We’re also in the process of building out our SUPPORT page as we implement new technologies to keep up with your queries.
(cc) Flickr user Somewhat Frank
Our central challenge to providing the best customer service is our seasonal rhythm. Because we sell a lot of textbooks, 90% of our sales happen in 3 months every year. We get slammed with orders (and customer service requests) in January and June/August and then are relatively less busy for the rest of the year.
This is part of why we have expanded our definition of customer service. Our Customer Care Fool goes way beyond just answering phones and replying to emails. She is responsible for ensuring customers are served throughout the entire shipping process: Picking, packing, labeling, shipping, and more!
With all of that in mind, here are some tricks to getting the most out of our Customer Service:
- Email us. Don’t call. Though we do list our phone number on the site, email is much, much faster when we’re slammed with requests. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
- Details, details, details. Give us all the info you can in your email: Order numbers, dates, purchase venue, ISBNs, titles. It’s ALL helpful in finding your order and getting you a quick response.
- Be cool. I know you’ve been given the runaround by other companies, but we WILL get back with you soon and will do what we can. If you start off with threats and recriminations, it may actually delay our response as we take a walk around the block to clear our head before responding.
- Returns are Quick and Painless if you read the Return Instructions. Before sending anything back, let’s discuss it by email. We may know a quicker, cheaper solution to solving your problem than the standard return procedure. Drop us an email to keep us in the loop.
Customer Service exists because nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. The BookFool difference is that we want to make it right. Drop us an email today!
Advice on Surviving the October Crunch
[Ed. note: In this post David shares some advice on surviving college.]
It’s now October, which for us collegiates means midterms, an influx of papers, and a dramatic rise in the ever increasing workload. For those of you in this position, I feel your pain. In light of the stressful season, I’d like to impart a bit of wisdom that was passed on to me during my freshman year.
(cc) Flickr user John Althouse Cohen
For my first year of college, I lived in a place called Maddox hall, quite likely the worst dorm on campus. The rooms were cramped and—prior to the furniture upgrade of 2007—there was no way to remedy this. So October rolled around and I began my late-night caffeine sessions, sitting in my tiny room cramming statistics or biology or some other off-major subject that I had no real interest in.
One such night I fumbled down the hall to a friend’s room at 1 a.m. to brew another pot of coffee. On my way down the hall, I ran into my RA, Jason. He asked how school was treating me and I gave him the stress-induced rundown:
“Well I have two papers due tomorrow and a test on Wednesday and I’m supposed to have read some book that I haven’t even bought yet and I slept through my nine o’clock class yesterday which made me miss a quiz and so I don’t even know. Know what I mean?”
Jason chuckled in a knowing way.
“Oh yeah man, we’ve all been there. But listen, there are more important things than school. One of my professors once told me never to let school get in the way of learning. So don’t sweat it man. You’ll be fine.”
That one bit of advice completely changed the rest of my college experience. So if I can offer any bit of comfort to those of you whose hearts are near explosion from caffeine overdose, whose brains are turning to oatmeal, and who have had a total of three hours of sleep in the past four days, it is this:
Don’t let school get in the way of learning.
How to be a Hip Freshman in Nashville: The Know
[Ed. note: This is part 3 of a 3-part series. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.]
At this point, you know what to wear and how to act. Now you must know what to know.
PART III: THE KNOW
(cc) Flickr user Joel Bedford
Gnarly Gnashville gnowledge can be divided into a gnumber of subcategories. The following is a handy study guide. It may be prudent to keep this taped to your mirror for a few weeks.
Music:
Take a look at the city you live in. Music is oxygen. It’s important to always know a little bit more about music than everybody else. Here are some starting points:
- Animal Collective is the best band ever (for the time being).
- Anyone with the word “bear” in their name is worth knowing right now. See: Grizzly Bear, Panda Bear, Minus the Bear, Berenstain Bears, Bear Grylls.
- You are required to adore The Beatles and Radiohead. Be prepared to discuss favorite songs/albums. (Hint: In Rainbows is not your favorite Radiohead album.)
- Vampire Weekend is so last year.
- Significant local bands: JEFF the Brotherhood, The Kopecky Family Band, Shirock.
- Need further assistance determining which bands are cool and relevant? Make Pitchfork.com your homepage.
Movies:
(cc) Flickr user Mockstar
Independent films featuring unwashed actors with undiscovered talent and indiscernible plotlines are CROOSH.
- The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic…and anything else by Wes Anderson. He is Yoda.
- The Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the White Stripes video with the Legos…and anything else by Michel Gondry. He is the other Yoda.
- Go to the Belcourt. Anything shown at the Belcourt is cool.
- A note about Garden State: You need to have seen this movie, but now you must roll your eyes at it. You now realize that the film is not the triumph it was once touted to be. Zach Braff, put your scrubs back on.
Books:
Scholarliness is next to hipness, which is next godliness. Think of yourself as an artsy intellectual now. Read books.
- Your first reading assignment: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. You will hear your own soul speaking from the pages. (Unfortunately, six months from now you cannot like this book anymore. It will seem “immature.”)
- Once you have moved on from Wallflowerdom, you may begin Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Make sure to quote Salinger on your Facebook.
- Finally, you must familiarize yourself with the Literary Hipster Triumvirate: Dave Eggers, David Sedaris, and Chuck Klostermann.
(cc) Flickr user CarbonNYC
Sports:
Forget about sports.
Miscellaneous Tidbits:
- Know who Whit Smith is. Facebook him or something.
- Learn how to pronounce “Demonbreun.” (Hint: It’s not “Demon Bruin.”)
- Find out where the Moran rope swing is.
At this point, we’ve told you all that we can. You’ve got the Look, the Rec, and the Know. Now, you must venture out on your own. If you get lost, lick your finger and hold it in the air. The wind will guide you.
Advice from a Loser: Don’t Wish Your Life Away
There was a teacher at my high school who was … there’s no other way to say it … a loser. Because of his own indiscretions, his personal life was a mess and it spilled over into his work. He was frequently unprepared for class and was easily derailed by our dumb personal questions.
Nevertheless, he was such a broken individual that he didn’t try to act like he was better than his students. We took pity on him and treated him with the cheerful deference reserved for teachers who regularly dismissed class early.
We’ll call him Mr. Pitiful.
My school had a daily meeting period we called chapel, even though it was not a religious affair. Usually a few students would give their required chapel talks, but sometimes a teacher would address the group. If a round of talks went long, it ate into our lunch time. If it went short, we got extra time at lunch.
One day at chapel, we sat in silence after the announcements and waited for our speaker to stand and deliver. We waited. And waited. Finally, Mr. Pitiful popped up, said “Oh, it’s me,” and walked to the front.
He was clearly unprepared. He stood at the podium for at least 30 seconds, gathering his thoughts amid our uncomfortable laughter. Finally he spoke in an even, measured voice:
I’ve spent most of my life wishing I was somewhere else. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be older so I could drive. When I could drive, I wanted to be older so I could buy beer.
[Long pause.]
Don’t be like me. Don’t wish your life away.
Thank you.
The place erupted in a long standing ovation. Most were clapping because his short talk meant we got an extra 20 minutes at lunch, but I like to think some were clapping for the message.
More than 10 years later, his words come back to me when I’m stuck in an unpleasant situation. It doesn’t always work, but when I think of him, I try to live in the moment and not wish I was somewhere else.
