Monday, August 13, 2007

King's X 'Out Of The Silent Planet'


Have you ever made a silly mistake without having any knowledge that you were making that mistake?

It happened to me today.

Yep… I went to the Home Depot to score some supplies for the upcoming Summertime Brewsfest. I happened to be wearing a Rock 92 Bubbalympics T-shirt. And that was my mistake.

It wasn’t because the shirt was offensive or anything… My mistake was wearing an orange T-shirt to the Home Depot.

I hit the first Depot over on S. Elm-Eugene Street. I walked over to the area I needed to be and started loading up towels. A lady woman came up behind me and asked, “Excuse me, but where can I find extended paint rollers?”

I turned around and asked, “What?”

“Where can I find extended paint rollers?”

“Oh,” I said and pointed down the aisle. “They’re right down there.”

Kojak didn’t get the orange shirt bit yet. I actually thought she could have been trying to pick me up… Hey! I’m entitled to dream. And you guessed it… She went down the aisle looking for her extended rollers without any further conversation or need of my attention.

I just wondered what that was all about as I took my items to the cashier.

Then I motored over to the Home Depot over at Brassfield to pick up the few more items that I needed because I had purchased all they had on S. Elm-Eugene.

I got my items and realized that I couldn’t carry them all at once. I needed a shopping cart to wheel them to the front and to the Nissan. I grabbed a nearby cart that was unattended when a guy came up to ask me where… I can’t even remember what he asked me about because I am unfamiliar with such “manly” things.

“I’m sorry… I don’t even know what it is your talking about,” I said.

“Don’t you work here?” he asked with a slight irritation in his voice.

“No. What ever gave you that idea?” I asked just as I noticed the orange T-shirt sleeve while putting my items into the shopping cart. “Jeez… I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I was wearing orange… No. I don’t work here.”

He was cool about it and then I realized why the lady asked me about extended rollers. I felt like a bit of a dumb ass.

But I wondered if Tony Stewart fans get the same kind of attention when they wear their orange souvenir NASCAR T-shirts. I’m sure that since his sponsor is the Home Depot… His T-shirts must be orange.

And another thought occurred to me… What if I went into a Home Depot with a recording device, my orange T-shirt, fielded questions from unsuspecting shoppers, and gave them weird answers? Or just started talking about weird stuff like health problems? Or girl troubles? Or simply start weeping when asked a question?

I’m digging the possibilities.

And there’s a new number one MySpace friend… Say hello to Daphne!

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:49 AM

    I'm frequently mistaken for a Harris Teeter employee when I'm working in their stores. People just assume, based on what I'm doing (working with the DVD fixture and DVDs), rather than what I'm wearing. I've been snapped at by customers more times than I can count. "Aren't you going to come over here and wait on me?" (from the lady in front of an unmanned customer service desk), to the short lady who asked me to reach something for her from a top shelf. I laughingly replied that I was too short to reach it, too. She snapped back, "Then go GET someone!" To both these customers - as well as others - my polite response was, "I'm not a Harris Teeter employee. I work for the DVD company." To which I've never received a single apology for their mistake or rudeness. Not one.

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