My Barnes & Noble Horror Story

  Now, this going to sound a little preposterous, but I am genuinely upset. I just wanted to say a little disclaimer that I acknowledge the fact that I am petty and there are children starving in Africa, but that doesn't make me any less angry. 
  I don't normally go to Barnes & Noble because my closest bookstore is Books A Million, but I do love the reader-author connection at B&N. They offer lots of signed copies and special editions that I relish when I arrive there. It's also the choice bookstore of many booktubers. 
  I've also never had problems with B&N before. But on this fateful Saturday, I was filled with contempt at the lack of books I wanted. 
  A couple of days ago, I saw this post on Rick Riordan's Instagram. 
Being the Percy Jackson super fan I am, I had to get my hands on the special 10th anniversary collector's edition. Now get this, I already own The Lightning Thief. Somehow, someway it made its way out of my possession and I've been without it for over a year. I thought that owning a special collector's edition would help soothe that wound. 
  I also figured I might could get my hands on the original copy of The Lighting Thief so that all my books could match since Books A Million doesn't sell the old covers anymore (a whole different rant entirely). 
 Rick Riordan is an auto-buy author for me and I own almost every single one of his books for children. I recently discovered after reading "The Crown of Ptolemy" (which, by the way, was amazing) that Rick has released the first two books of the Heroes of Olympus series as graphic novels. I already own the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles graphic novels so I might as well get these too. The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune bring my possible-books-to-buy list up to four.  
  When I arrived at Barnes & Noble, I was immediately swept into the atmosphere of new hardcovers and coffee. Instant serenity. I head straight up the escalator towards the teen section to do my rounds of the YA releases. I checked out the Rainbow Rowell collector's editions, but reluctantly put them back because I was saving my money for Riordan (I did pick up a Kerstin Gier book that I'll discuss in my next book haul). 
  After prying through the endless shelves of Veronica Roth and whoever wrote The Selection (sorry in advance to the girl at school who keeps yelling at me to read those books. I'm getting there), I head towards my true purpose at this store: the young reader's section. I lovingly admire the new paperback of House of Hades, then peruse the shelf for my graphic novels. I see The Lost Hero, but not The Son of Neptune: the first in a long line of disappointments. 
  I have yet to find the collector's edition (the whole point of me coming all the way to B&N), so I hang my head and jog towards costumer service, thinking that maybe it's on a special display somewhere else like in the picture. The man at the desk informs me that their computer system is down, but that I should check the children's section. After telling him I've already been there, he points me in the direction of a few haphazard stacks in the corner of that section that I am welcome to search. I spend about five minutes perched on top of a stack of Nancy Drew looking for my beautiful, silver Percy Jackson book. To my dismay, they didn't have it anywhere. I then resign myself to just get the original edition so at least I have a complete matching series. But nooooooo, B&N just had to be difficult and have Sea of Monsters through Battle of the Labyrinth in the original covers, but not The Lightning Thief.
  I proceed to storm down to the cashier with my disappointing haul and pay. I ask (politely despite my rage, I'm not a terrible person) the woman working if she knew where to find the collector's edition in a last ditch attempt but she had the same response as the first guy. I exit the store of lowered expectations with my 1 out of 4 books from my list and my consolation book. 
  This experience was extremely frustrating and it didn't help that I spilled coffee on my shirt, too. I realize that Amazon is not the kindest to authors, but this kind of thing almost makes me want to resort to their annoying shipping fees. Almost. Rick Riordan is lucky I care about his fellow authors' honor.
  This is one of those times when I feel like I spiritually identify with grumpy cat. 

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