Almostgotit.com

We rode the train to Portland today. We had to go to some effort to get onto the train with the dining car, because while my children have been on many trains, they’ve never eaten in a dining car. It all worked out perfectly, except for the playing cards part.

Everyone knows that one of the best ways to pass the time on a train is to play cards. Another of the best things to do on a train is to walk from one end of the train to the other, finding the snack car along the way and buying something there. And what we wanted to buy was a pack of playing cards. We got on at the beginning of the Seattle-LA route, so everything should have been freshly stocked. Moreover, I was a perfect customer — on vacation, living large, and willing to spend almost anything for a little deck of cards with “Amtrak” written on them. And which, moreover, they had listed prominently for purchase on their snack car menu. We waited eagerly in line, being bumped by all the hotdogs and dorito bags going the other way.

But they were OUT. No cards. They’d not even bothered to stock them this morning, apparently.

Amtrak is a company in perpetual financial straits, and they really need my money. And I would very happily have obliged at their snack car, as I already had in their dining car. They also need to fill me with happy memories so I’ll come back as a repeat customer, and playing card games with my daughter in the lounge car would have gone a long, long way in that direction — for both of us!

On the other hand, later that afternoon, we stopped at Powell Books’ flagship store in Portland. What a great bookstore! And by coincidence, in a matter of hours, also one of many that would be unveiling HARRY POTTER #7. They had the costumes, the signs, the brilliant cross-promotions. There were “Harry Potter Updates” going out over the loudspeaker every few minutes. Outside, the line of excited H.P. fans was already wrapped around the block. Powells, however, was prepared already with tents, signs, and traffic cones. Two news vans were already comfortably parked on the busy street as well, and ready to jump on the unfolding story.

Which is why Amazon.com STILL hasn’t beat Powells books, even in this, their mutual home territory.