Last night John and I met up after work at the Provo library where we spent a very long time browsing nothing in particular. I had to return some books, and of course you have to check the DVD section. But on a Friday night there was nothing worth checking out.

We went upstairs to browse the non-fiction. As I wandered among the sections I noticed a pattern in the organization–a very sly one at that. I walked through the women’s health section (breast cancer, pregnancy, gynecological problems, etc.)–a section where almost no guy would willingly linger, probably not even with his wife. I looked up at the signs designating the sections. Guess what was right next to the women’s health section?

Computers and technology. Guy central.

It’s brilliant, really. The husband can accompany his wife to the womany shelves and then casually slip over to the techie section next door. They can stand in the same aisle, she with her Preparing for Birth with Yoga book cracked open and he with the fourth edition of Computer Networks. She feels like he’s supporting her and he can read whatever he wants.

Brilliant, yes?

There was also the sports section next to home and garden, animals next to horror, and history next to travel. The latter is where John and I spent most of our time. He lingered in European history section looking up something about archeological artifacts, while I wandered to the travel section the next shelf over. I browsed books on central America, where someday we might take a cruise, and on England. I decided to check out Rick Steve’s Europe Through the Back Door 2006 guide. It looks like a good reference book for someday when we travel to Europe.

And hopefully someday will actually come…someday.