It's Like Christmas Every Week

It's Tuesday morning, and that means that it's new book pickup day. Our books are shipped in by FedEx Freight, and we can pick 'em up at the hub on Tuesday morning for processing and preparation (they don't go on sale until Wednesday, but this enables us to have 'em ready to sell when we open the doors that morning). Of course, the biggest personal benefit is that I get to look at the new comics on Tuesday rather than having to wait until Wednesday.

I've spent a significant portion of my life looking forward to new comic book day. When I was young, I didn't know exactly when new comics would come in; by the time I was nine, though, I had figured out that new magazines arrived at Conn's Grocery and Couch's Grocery on Tuesday, when the new TV Guide was delivered; I would walk to both stores to see what primary-shade-hued covers would greet me upon my arrival. When I was in high school, Wednesday afternoons seemed interminably long as I clicked off the hours until I could leave school and rush to Liberty Hatworks to help them process the new comic books.

When I became involved in comics, new comic book day became a sort of "working holiday," since I have to put in a fair amount of time to prepare the comics for sale (to this day, many publishers don't supply UPC data, or they supply the wrong data, which means we have to spend a fair amount of time entering books into our system--and of course, we have to count and inspect for damages, which takes some time). It's still a holiday, though--and as is the case with all holidays, I sleep restlessly the night before, largely due to my sense of anticipation.

Things are different now, of course: I no longer wonder what's going to be in the new comic book boxes, since we get copies of our invoices on the Friday prior to delivery. That makes it easier for me to "pre-plan" my reading, determining which books I need to check out first and which can wait until all the work is done. (You didn't think I postponed reading any comics until we finished the work, did you?)

I wonder... when I'm no longer in the comic book business, will I still look forward to new comic book day with such enthusiasm? (I suspect I know the answer...)