Another guy breaks into a cold sweat, mumbling something about loan payments. The cash register seems like a death sentence. Following painstaking tuition bills, horrendous holiday credit card statements and the parking ticket you got for parking in the Buntrock lot the night before, the hum of receipts ringing up hundreds of dollars in books gives you an excruciating headache. Professors want their students to study the best the wisest, the most scholarly, the most documented but with that desire comes a hefty price tag. Most students can't leave the bookstore without leaving a small dowry.
Famous authors deserve some sort of gratuity.
Splurging for most is ordering pizza on a day other than Thursday. For others, it might be that heralded cup of coffee from the Cage on the way to class. We do not have the budgets for hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in books. But to do the work and get the grade, you need the book. Alternatives are limited.