bargain bin

Something caught the eye of the man before me in the library queue. It was a book, in the wastepaper basket. Picking up the books he’d just taken out, the man nodded towards the bin and asked if it was (what I believe he referred to as) an American Adventure that they were throwing out. It was a large paperback picture book with a colourful and detailed countryside scene on its cover. It lay facedown, pages splayed, at the top of the bin. The librarian walked over to it and picked it out, saying: “It’s all…” and pointing to its torn cover. “Can I have it?” asked the man. The librarian shrugged and passed it to him reluctantly. The man took it with a controlled look of satisfaction. The other people at the counter watched him leave. From surprise at his audacity his audience was moved to envy. We wished we’d spotted it first.