Shoes from Rizzo again. Swedish brand that has a flagship in my neighborhood. We are talking SAME BLOCK. Located less than 100 meters away from my bedroom. That close. It has been brought to my attention on several occasions that WHITE SHOES are a big no-no. I do not really care. I like white shoes in the summer. Today, however, I guess I went a bit over-the-top as I wore them with a skirt, a white shirt AND my NYC Women's Yacht Club "blazer". "Heeeeel-loooooo?" I should know better than dressing like the queen of preppy for a full day session of training close to where I grew up. Really, I do. If you dress like a presumed a-hole, you will most certainly be treated like one. Nobody, I mean NOBODY, talked to me during lunch. I guess I did not look that approachable. Even though I wore my "approachable" glasses today. The pair without frames. Will definitely go for jeans tomorrow.
Stopped by the local grocery store to pick up some lunch on my way in this morning, as the variety of "no-carb" food at the client cafeteria is pretty limited. Unless, of course, I would dare go for the buffet with the fillings for everybody else's sandwiches. Which would not be a polite thing to do, being sort-of a guest at this place.
It is always nice walking into our local grocery store. It is now run by a guy I went to school with. Who now looks exactly like his father did when we grew up. AND - he has - after being brought up to be "The perfect shop-keeper", attained some skills that I truly envy. He can talk. To ANYONE. About ANYTHING. I do not know how he does it, but it surely is a special talent. That runs in this guy's family. Strangely enough, this guy was quite shy in school. (But then again, so was I. I guess you grow out of some things.)
Mostly, I appreciate this smalltalk. It is nice coming into the shop and being asked how you are doing (not in the "American way", where they do not really expect/want an answer). But, sometimes, sometimes it gets a bit too much.
There are a few things I have learnt from (years of) experience - NEVER to purchase in this particular store. As you do not always need conversations like:
- TKOST: "Oh. Buying sugar and yeast? Gong home to bake bread, are we?"
- Customer (not me!): "Eh, NO. We are actually setting up a batch of MOONSHINE."
- Customer (SO not me!): "Pssst. We are going to fill them with cocaine, swallow them and smuggle it to Honduras."
- TKOST: "Aaaah. Buying sanitary napkins! That time of month again, is it?"
- Customer (me!): "!?"
In retrospect, I see that I should have used the CLASSIC phrase from Monty Python / "The Meaning of Life" / The restaurant scene, where one of the female restaurant guests exclaim:
"Gotta dash. You see I am having a raaaaather heavy period. Bleeeeeding all over myself!"*
I never tend to handle awkward situations like these right. I always do come up with the PERFECT reply. About SIX MONTHS later.
* http://youtu.be/BlK62rjQWLk (around 3:08)
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