Reading magazines in shops

[superjohn]

Prompted by the idiot reading (on the shelf at arm‘s length) a copy of RAIL from cover to cover in WH Smith at London Waterloo this afternoon. What do others think of this behaviour?

As you can probably tell, I disapprove of it. A brief glance through to ascertain the contents is fair enough but to go ahead and read it is akin to stealing it in my opinion. It also obstructs the counter for others, when I reached in to pick up a magazine he didn’t move an jot.

On the thread about Ian Allan shops closing down there were comments on the negative impacts for the business of people doing the same in book shops.

I have seen some newsagents with signs asking patrons not to do it so I guess it is a common problem.

 

[John Webb]

While commuting from St Pancras to Borehamwood in the mornings in the early 1970s, I found myself effectively banned from the W H Smith bookstall at St Pancras because the manager complained I was doing this. It was true I visited the stall most mornings, and was looking for some minutes at paperback books. I had bought some books from the bookstall as a result of my browsing, but after his complaints they got no more money out of me!

 

[Bletchleyite]

So common is this practice that the uk.railway newsgroup used to refer to the shop as the "W.H. Smith reading room". Yeah, I think it's not on either.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Prompted by the idiot reading (on the shelf at arm‘s length) a copy of RAIL from cover to cover in WH Smith at London Waterloo this afternoon. What do others think of this behaviour?

The "idiot" might be on the ASD spectrum and forgot his reading glasses. Sometimes these people don't realise they are in the way or encroaching in somebody else's space

How do you know this person was reading cover to cover?

 

[bramling]

Prompted by the idiot reading (on the shelf at arm‘s length) a copy of RAIL from cover to cover in WH Smith at London Waterloo this afternoon. What do others think of this behaviour?

As you can probably tell, I disapprove of it. A brief glance through to ascertain the contents is fair enough but to go ahead and read it is akin to stealing it in my opinion. It also obstructs the counter for others, when I reached in to pick up a magazine he didn’t move an jot.

On the thread about Ian Allan shops closing down there were comments on the negative impacts for the business of people doing the same in book shops.

I have seen some newsagents with signs asking patrons not to do it so I guess it is a common problem.

It’s a menace - damages stock and gets in the way of people who actually want to buy. Worse in bookshops where there is the potential to be damaging quite expensive stock.

However the practice has been going on since bookshops and newsagents came into being, so it’s something unlikely to change.

 

[Busaholic]

Prompted by the idiot reading (on the shelf at arm‘s length) a copy of RAIL from cover to cover in WH Smith at London Waterloo this afternoon. What do others think of this behaviour?

As you can probably tell, I disapprove of it. A brief glance through to ascertain the contents is fair enough but to go ahead and read it is akin to stealing it in my opinion. It also obstructs the counter for others, when I reached in to pick up a magazine he didn’t move an jot.

On the thread about Ian Allan shops closing down there were comments on the negative impacts for the business of people doing the same in book shops.

I have seen some newsagents with signs asking patrons not to do it so I guess it is a common problem.

You might expect an ex-bookseller to deprecate this behaviour, which I do, but it really annoys me if I go into WHS and find this going on, as there's no room for anyone else to get a look in, even just to find the (overlapping) mag I want to buy. We also have an indy newsagent that stocks some transport titles, and if, after a quick scan, I decide I'd like to buy one and don't have the necessary dosh, I'll ask him to put it aside for me, and I've never reneged.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

If I want to skip through a magazine before deciding to buy, I will always step aside and be alert to anyone I might be in the way of

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Worse in bookshops where there is the potential to be damaging quite expensive stock.

Potential, yes but you can't use the same brush to tarnish everyone

If I want to buy an expensive book, I would want to have a quick glance through the pages so I can be sure if its worth the investment. You can't preview every book on Amazon or other on-line sites

FWIW I have a lot of books at home, considered old but are immaculate.

But yes, it does annoy me too if I want to buy a mag and its been thrown about all over the place

 

[superjohn]

How do you know...

This was a middle aged man who knew very well that his behaviour was selfish and inconsiderate. As to whether he had forgotten his glasses, I don’t know that but it spectacularly misses the point of what I was saying anyway.

There seems to be a growing culture of a deliberate lack of self awareness. The people who stop and drop all their luggage at the top of an escalator, fully able people who chose to stand directly in the exit doorway of London buses when upstairs is empty, those who think hazard lights allow them to stop right in front of their front door etc.

 

[hexagon789]

You also get shop owners/staff who go the other way - won't let you even so much as give it a second glance without paying for it.

 

[Mag_seven]

but it really annoys me if I go into WHS and find this going on, as there's no room for anyone else to get a look in, even just to find the (overlapping) mag I want to buy.

Indeed - I will force my way past these people making the comment "excuse me but I wish to buy this magazine".

(I also ensure I obtain a magazine that's at the back of the pile - I don't want to buy one that's already been read by a freeloader!)