how do we stand a chance?

i am in borders bookstore about two or three times a month, usually. i took my daughter there today in search of a book she couldn't find nearby (read: nearby a starbucks...) so off we went. i thought i could use a new journal for my handbag since the one i have been using for several months for that purpose had its last page used up last night.

we arrive and she goes off to the *young adult* section and i go for the *journals* section. for the most part, nothing is catching my eye, save for the journals meant for specifics: a mother's journal, sisters by birth/friends by choice journals, travel log books. my needs are basic: lined paper, preferably a pocket in the back for tzchotkes, if not an envelope strategically placed will suffice.

i note the *best friends forever* journal, complete with three or four witches on the front cover having tea...not for me. i find something suitable "enough" and go in search of yet another book on Christianity and why we are so messed up as a people.

back by the ladies room.

i think i may have mentioned that fact before, but i don't really understand why it's by the bathrooms. surely there could be a lesser disturbing place in the entire store that could house books on Christianity?

no?

so i find nothing, but decide to look on the bargain books for a cookbook or something equally as enticing.

if you have young children, now would be a good time to avert their eyes. i'll wait.

books on how to achieve the perfect orgasm. in the middle of the flippin' store, near the check-out line, like for impulse-shoppers. are you kidding me? books on Jesus Christ? oh, by the restrooms, to your right...on the perfect sexual position? in the center of the store, near the godiva chocolates and bright lighting. hope this helps.

now i am perturbed.

i try not to be, really. i find a mediterranean cookbook and have a seat. before we leave, i decide to look for an organic (read that word right, now :) magazine on gardening and foodstuffs, but in the same section are magazines on witchcraft and joining a coven. wicca stuff. by the organic magazines.

i cannot win. i decide against organic and would have opted for "mother earth news," but i was not willing to take a chance since it's been a decade or two since i've purchased that periodical and was fearful of what i'd find in between the covers.

we are in the check-out line ready to make our purchases and two shelves in front of me: TWO SHELVES are filled with nothing but "angels and demons," "the devil's tooth," and titles of the like.

*sigh*

how on earth do we stand a chance?

*sigh again*

"greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world," which is a good thing. otherwise, i'd be a goner.

simply by entering a bookstore.