So I recently had two experiences in stores which just reinforce why I generally avoid shopping.
First, I was in a high-tech store, call it "Shop of the Future", buying a shiny new Adobe software package. When I brought it up to the counter, the guy gave me a bit of a hard time about it - "I don't see many of these up here anymore," he said, "I guess you don't know how to download stuff?" This is a Shop of the Future salesperson, ragging on me (albeit somewhat good-naturedly) for buying something from the store he works at, rather than pirating it. Before this, I have described Shop of the Future employees as "useless", "annoying", "dumber than a bag of really dumb rocks", and "barely able to read the back of the box to you in answer to your questions". I guess I'll add "tactless" and "unable to make logical connections between sales and paycheques". Bizarre.
Second, I was in a hockey store, picking up a few items necessary for me to continue my reign of supremacy (i.e. accidentally running headfirst into people) during morning hockey games. I needed a new stick, as the one I'm using actually belongs to my wife, and is also partially disintegrating. When I had made my choice, the comment the guy made was something along the lines of, "Whoa. You're going old school, eh?" This is because I chose a hockey stick made of wood, which I note are increasingly hard to find these days. (For you youngsters who haven't heard of wood, it's the same thing they make trees from. A wooden hockey stick is basically a whittled-down tree.) The majority of sticks there are composite sticks, the kind you regularly see shattering during key plays in NHL games. Add to that, the fact that they're 3-4x the price, then yeah, I'll go "old school". I'm bummed enough that I have to pay $28 for a stick, I'm not likely to go over the $100 mark.
Grumble. I think I'll stay out of the stores for another few months.
