I get real tired of people getting mad at me because at work we only seat people who buy the book an event is for from our store (until right before start time when there are still empty seats). 

And so I’m here to scream a very important message.

IT IS NOT INHERENTLY CLASSIST FOR A BUSINESS TO CHARGE YOU MONEY FOR A GOOD OR SERVICE.

Yes, my store is often not the cheapest place to get whatever book. But! We are the ones holding the event, and we treat the book purchase as a ticket because our company cannot hold events without a financial pay-off. Hosting events takes time and money (and time IS money, because the store pays staff (including me) for all the time spent setting up and running the event).

And the ideal is not not just cover costs, but exceed them, because otherwise there is no reason for the company to put resources towards events. A business exists to make profit. You can disagree with this capitalist model, I certainly do! But there’s little point in yelling over the small ways this effects you, and it’s CERTAINLY pointless to yell at underpaid workers who don’t make the policy in the first place.