Matt's a little busy right now

Thursday morning the kids and I braved the 25 below temperatures to go to Barnes and Noble. Why - you may ask? Because apparently the "bookseller" I talked to on the phone is not trained in customer service. My brother Matt is featured in an article in last week's New York magazine. (http://nymag.com/news/features/all-new/53344/) I had been to one B&N the afternoon before (when it was only 20 below) looking for it, but that one did not carry that magazine. The kind person there told me to call another store in the morning because they had a larger magazine section. (She told me to call in the morning since she had called while I was standing there and had gotten "some kid that didn't know what he was talking about.") So I did. Here was my conversation with the aforementioned "bookseller."

Me: Do you carry New York magazine?
Him: I think so.
Me: Not the New Yorker. New York magazine.
Him: I think so.
Me: Can you go look? I want the Jan. 11th issue.
Him: (after going to look) The special double issue with Obama on the front?
Me: Yes - it says Jan. 11th, right?
Him: Yeah.
Me: How many copies do you have?
Him: I think I saw 2.
Me: Can you hold them for me?
Him: I can't hold magazines.
Me: Please. My brother is in it. (So it's not like I am going to stand you up and not buy them and then you are left with 2 copies you could have sold, sir....)
Him: Cool! That's really neat! (His enthusiasm gave me a little hope....)
Me: So can you hold them?
Him: No. Maybe I could hide them behind something for you. (chuckle) No - I can't do that either. (Funny, buddy. OK - now I am going to play my poor-mother-of-two-small-children card.)
Me: I have two toddlers that I don't really want to bring out in this weather. Is there any way you can have them held until this evening when I can come alone?
Him: No - sorry.

So we went and got the 3 copies they had. I made a big point as we were standing in line for Sam to say "That's my Uncle Matt!" and then made a big production of getting all of my children's cold-weather gear back onto their bodies. Not that anyone seemed to notice.

Then Friday afternoon my parents were coming to our house so that I could take them to the airport Saturday morning to catch their plane to Jamaica. Every time the phone rang on Friday Sam was hoping it was them calling to tell him they were almost here so he could look out the window to watch them drive up. At some point in the late morning I was on the phone with my brother Matt (trying to fix my computer problems over the phone, which is the usual reason that I call him). Sam got all excited and said "Matt is coming to our house too!?" I told him that he wasn't coming today, but he was actually coming in a week or so. (Matt lives in New Jersey, but he and his wife are coming to Chicago next weekend.) "Oh," Sam said,"He can't come today. He's in a magazine instead."

I can't wait to see what he says when Matt is at our house and I hold up the magazine next to him.