Health & Fitness
Online Book Orders are a GI's Friend in Afghanistan
A US Army Reservist and Redlands Tea Party Patriot member stationed in Afghanistan has to make phone calls to order his books online.
The Barnes and Nobles lady, judging by her tone, wasn’t too fond of my war-zone reading list.
My ordering of the “The US Army Counterinsurgency Handbook” caught her by surprise, but my conservative choices of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism,” as well as “Rules for Radicals” and “Stealing Elections” caught her ire.
Subtle as her tone was -- and her tone is my only guide -- I could just tell she took offense at books Tea Party movement types like me are reading in preparation for a bruising 2012 election cycle.
Find out what's happening in Banning-Beaumontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Ordering books is popular among GIs in war zones. The options we have to buy books on post are limited. We get boxes and boxes of unsolicited paperbacks, but unless you really like a particular book, you’re not going to spend your precious few hours of free time reading it.
The solution is online ordering. Free time is next to nil, so to make the most of my bedtime reading, I spend a few bucks on what I really want. (Besides…the expectation of a package from the US just adds to the fun).
Find out what's happening in Banning-Beaumontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Ordering is normally done online, but for some reason, the Barnes and Nobles website just would not accept my APO (used for US service members overseas) address.
So I had to call Barnes and Nobles via my Skype mobile phone, which turned our conversation into an “auto-tune” conversation because the connection was weak.
In addition, I had to time my call for late afternoon, as I get ready for work, so I could reach their East Coast call center, which is 8.5 hours behind local time in Afghanistan.
The lady tried to explain that their site did accept APO addresses, but I argued that I had tried twice and was rejected both times. Nevertheless, she helped me get my books – and whatever her politics, she recovered nicely by finding me an online coupon saving me $2!
I paid extra for priority shipment, so I can expect the package in about 10 days. Non-priority mail takes weeks, if not a month – or if ever -- to reach Afghanistan.