The Gift of Surprise
“Surprise is the greatest gift life can grant us.”
Several weeks ago I ordered a book, “On the Night Bus” by London photographer Nick Turpin. It’s a book of photos Nick took of people as they passed by at night on one of those famous red London buses. I saw some of Nick’s photos online (including the one posted above) and fell in love with his hazy images of anonymous faces behind foggy windows, people making their way from here to there in that peculiar no-man’s land known as public transportation.
I did something I normally don’t do when ordering a book—I ordered it directly from the publisher without checking on Amazon first. I’m not sure why; I simply followed the link included with an online review of the book. The link took me to a small British publishing firm, Hoxton Mini Press.
It was a day or two before I started berating myself for not checking Amazon first. When I finally did check I learned the book could be bought for much less, especially with international shipping charges factored in. And—perhaps more importantly—if I had ordered from Amazon I would already have that book in my hot little hands. Now I had no idea when it would arrive.
Sigh. Nothing to be done at this point but wait for the book to appear in our mailbox. I resigned myself to waiting, and it slipped to the back of my mind—except for the anticipation I felt every time I checked the mailbox. And finally, after three or four weeks, the book arrived.
It was wrapped twice, once in plain brown paper and a second time in a graphic arts black and white wrapping paper with little street scenes from London. A card fell out of the book, a note from the publisher with the following message:
“Thank you for ordering direct from us. We hope the nice wrapping paper and little card makes up for the fact that it wasn’t delivered by a drone within 30 minutes from a warehouse run by robots. Although that probably IS the future.”
That wrapping paper and the card had me at hello. I don’t know Ann and Martin, but I know I really like them. Their ability to roll with what comes their way and maintain a sense of humor is my personal definition of serenity. I also know that, combined with the anticipation I experienced waiting for the book to arrive, purchasing directly from Ann and Martin was worth the extra cost. Let’s face it—I’ll continue to order from Amazon on a regular basis. But “On the Night Bus” reminded me of what a pleasure it is doing business with a small shop that cares about its products and its customers. Thank you Ann and Martin, for your unexpected gift!
And for more serene thoughts check out this blog post from Amy Smith, Anchorage Alaska photographer.