Selling it Back

So, as a college student, obviously I want to save as much money as possible.  I like financial security. ;)  Therefore, when the end of the semester comes around, I, like the rest of EVERYONE, try to sell back my textbooks at the bookstore.
Ha.  Good luck with that.
The most annoying thing about selling back textbooks?  The most expensive books are the ones they won't take back.  I mean, seriously, you lure us in with the promise of half our money back at the end of the semester, and then you won't pay up on the ones we really need?  Aaaarghghgh!!!!
No, of course I'm not bitter.
So I naturally didn't have high hopes when I went to sell back my textbooks this semester.  And I was right: they wouldn't buy back any of them.  Not one. single. textbook.  Although to be fair, the ones they were most likely to buy back were the ones I actually decided to keep (hated my anthropology class, but the books we read were actually quite fascinating).
What surprised me most, however, was the reaction of the clerk I was trying to sell them back with.  Like I said, I hadn't really expected much when I went in, so when she couldn't buy any of them, I shrugged it off and made a joke about burning the ones I really hated.  Her response: she gave me a $10 gift card to the bookstore and said thanks for not chewing her out.
I was surprised, obviously, and then when I thought about it, I was a little exasperated.  I mean, really people, she's a college student too, here!  It's not her fault the university is stingy, have none of you ever worked in retail before?  Honestly!
Yep.  Textbooks.  What a flippin' joy.

Fare thee well, friend!
Mira