What a giveaway.

It was World Book Night this week, and like last year I was ready with my big box of books, 20 copies of The Eyre Affair to give to unsuspecting members of the public. Last year I gave out The Player of Games and thoroughly enjoyed it. This year was a slightly less enjoyable experience.

A lot has happened in the last 12 months as society has been eroded by 'bad things' happening and a further paranoid plunge perpetrated by the media. More sex offenders, especially amongst those we trusted with our childhood or humour, bombings, disasters, North Korea; all on a list of things that make you wonder 'why?'.

What has this got to do with WBN?

Weeelll, I have this theory that the more negative things one hears, the more negative one gets and the more negative one feels about everything. Yes, I know that the 'things are getting worse' brigade have been out there since things originally started 'getting worse' (waddya mean 'leave paradise'? For an apple? You're kidding me!) But the kind of stuff we have to read about in the papers about scum, rapists, criminals who prey on the innocent, stalkers and the like, all this has a creeping affect on the General Public, that 'great unwashed' much favoured by those who would manipulate us into mistrust so that we are easier to manipulate further. It's all about trust, and the more you can eliminate trust the less easy it is to band together to fight a common enemy. So when one tries to give something away. For free.

First oddity was a couple whom I approached with a smiling 'excuse me, did you know it's World Book Night?'
Woman - No thanks.
Man - What?
Me - It happens annually, we give away books to those who don't normally read a lot. Do you read a lot?
Woman - No thanks, we don't read that.
Me - Then you're exactly the kind of person we want to reach.
At this point I present her with the wonderful Eyre Affair - WBN edition
Me - it's not a scam or a religious tact, just a really good book. And it's free!
Woman - Jesus, just leave us alone.
Man - Uhn.
At which point they simple walked off, hunched shouldered and uncommunicative.

This was the reaction from four or five folks who automatically assumed I was a scammer, religious idiot or just a nuisance. I have to say that the majority of folks were either polite and accepted or refused in a non-confrontational way and I hope they thoroughly enjoy Jasper's tale.  Two women to whom I gave books while in WH Smith seemed to be unable to grasp the concept of 'free'. One of them took her book to the till and I had to explain to the till boy that it was a WBN giveaway. Neither he nor his supervisor were aware it was WBN, which kinda baffled me.

Sadly Harrogate hosted no WBN events in either the library or Waterstone's, places one would expect to see offering an amount of support. Reading through some of the other givers experiences I believe my problem is one of going out on the street to appeal to the random possible not-readers, most successful events appear to take place in sheltered accommodation, hospices or other enclaves of the socially marginalised. It's commendable that there are givers who target the dispossessed and itinerant to give them books they might never otherwise have access to. I would still like to give books out to anonymous people in the street, the ordinary, those people who least expect it. However I'm seriously re-evaluating the worthiness of this desire against the closed mindedness of the General Public as they get more and more like the Daily Mail stereotypes we know and love.

Next year I'll probably do it again, but may need some other event or support from local business to make it worthwhile.