I got a job offer from Barnes & Noble mere hours after I had accepted my current position at The Strand. Even now — some three years after the fateful day — I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if that B&N manager had been just a little bit quicker. Compared to the wild, unpredictable nature of working at one of the largest and most eclectic bookstores in the nation, it’s hard to imagine an alternate reality of neat displays, khaki pants, collar shirts, Starbucks coffee, and Nooks.

But one thing’s for sure: You certainly wouldn’t have seen a group of B&N employees crowded around their store’s display window, laughing and snapping photographs with their phones after a long day’s work, like they were at The Strand yesterday — taking pictures such as the one at the right.

Marketing is so much more fun when you don’t have to worry about maintaining a staid, professional image.