Continued Next Issue, Perhaps

    As longtime readers know, especially after my series last year, I really like comic books. I started getting them even before I could read. Heck, they are the reason I was able to read when I started kindergarten. For over thirty years now, I have been getting the majority of my comic books from Page 3 GameZone. I was able to walk over to their original downtown Pikeville location after classes, if I wanted to. They were a reason for me to leave the house during my 'bad times' in the late 90s. They even managed to get a selection of recent comics when I lost so much in 2003. I wound up not buying any for a few reasons, but they tried to help me. I got to know the owner and many of the employees over the years. I have even helped out a few times with some of the work. I usually go one a week, but I didn't the week of February 12. Due to a shipping error, none of my titles were coming in that week, but would be shipped with the next order. One February 15, the store was just one of the many places affected by the recent floods. You may have seen the store in footage on social media or on WSAZ news.  For some reason, place north of Pikeville along the river were hit harder than most places just south of town. I know it might not be the best thing to single out just one place that got hit, but it the one that is affecting me the most.

    [Side note: I wasn't affected by the flooding, neither my home nor my own store.  However, I almost had a problem that day. I went to Pikeville to shop and have my store, Booknotes, open for part of the day, thinking that there would be 2-3 inches of rain, with the worse falling to the north and west with clearing by the early afternoon. I closed soon after my only browser of the day (from the Wheelwright area no less) and the first warnings were issued. Rain was already running down the hills, ditches were overflowing, and creeks were rising, although some weren't getting as high as expected.  Rain water was already running down the street by the time I got home. Barely twenty minutes later, a landslide up the road caused muddy water to wash down the street in front of my place and into the ditch/small creek next to the parking lot. It never flowed over its banks. Turns out, the system slowed down some, dumping over four inches of rain far south of where it was forecast. The system didn't start pushing north into the mid-to-late afternoon. I might not have been able to have gotten home in time if I hadn't left as early as I did.  Strangely enough, the forecast for Sunday was very accurate, with the rain and snow coming in at about the same time as predicted.]

    I haven't been able to drive past Page 3 since then, taking a slight detour when necessary.  That stretch of road wasn't in too good a shape anyway those first few days.  It took awhile before they posted anything about how they were doing.  The main floor looked to be in fairly good shape, as only a few inches of water or so came in. The lower area was hit harder, probably taking in a few feet or so.  That area was where they stored most of the older comic books, as where the current titles were put on display.  While they have spread out to many more things than just comics, this will still hit them hard, along with all the other things they lost. As of yet, I haven't reached out to them. On the one hand, I want to help them, but I don't know how. Most of the ideas I've had come off as too self-serving, anything to help me get my comics back again as quickly as possible. My mother even suggested I should try to start selling comics at my store.  Not only would that be very rude to Page 3, whose owner has bought from me before, but it also wouldn't be that feasible, as Page 3 could be open again by the time I could start receiving given the three month lead time and the fragmented market currently in place. Yes, I would be the only one in the area selling, as the only other place started by a former Page 3 manager got hit just as bad, but it would be unfair considering all they have done for me over the decades. On the other hand, I don't want to help. I'm not good in very dirty, messy situations. I am not good at cleaning.  I'm better at organizing. Seeing so much loss and destruction could be a trigger for my own losses to floods, twice, of almost everything I had. Besides, I still have my own store to run. Sure, I might not have that much business at any one time, and I have someone to watch it when I'm not there, but active cleaning is just not something I like to do. I want and need to do something more than just offer condolences, but nothing feels right. I really need to say something, and soon, but I don't know what that should be.