Conditioning Crap*

You probably don't know this about me, and, lets be honest, probably don't want to know....BUT....here you go anyway.

Every time I walk into a bookstore I have to use the bathroom! Not to put too fine a point on it, I have to poop! I always thought this was some wierd psycho-sematic response totally personal to me, but guess what! It's not! Loads of people have this same response (see here). But what causes it??

Some people say its conditioning....i.e., you read on the toilet, so then you associate books with having to take a big heinous crap (sorry mom!).

Other people say its an excitement response. This implies that you want all the books so much that you actually have a physical response to the excitement of the prospect.

Finally, still others think that it is due to the mold and fungus in the room, in connection with the air conditioning (I think these are the same people that believe in alien probes but hey, that's just me).

Personally, I think its a physiological response to the fact that you CAN! I mean, bookstores are some of the few retail shops that routinely have toilets (though now I'm thinking this is really the chicken and the egg argument, but with books and poop) which the public can access. And its not like you can just walk around taking a crap anywhere you want. So when you find a place where you can....who would be crazy enough to pass that by?

Not me!

* For those of you who anticipated reading a gushy mushy Valentines Day post....consider this it. :)