Excuse Me, Do You Work Here?

Have you ever been walking through a store and been stopped by another customer who asked if you work there?  I have.  Just the other day, I was browsing for some crafty thing I needed at Joann’s (please don’t tell anyone I shop at Joann’s) when a woman walked up.  “Excuse me.  Do you work here?” she asked.  I, despite a strong urge to play along, told her I did not and she moved on to ask some other lonely schmuck who may or may not work at Joann’s.

While in recent years I have only been asked 2-3 time a year, it used to be a more common occurrence.  Perhaps an older, fatter me doesn’t look like they work anywhere, let alone the place in which I am currently standing.  Perhaps it’s the two children in tow that make me look more like a shopper and less like an employee.

I think it may have to do with the way I shop.  I often spend way too much time in a store.  I wander.  I meander.  I browse.  Perhaps that type of shopping makes me look like I am supposed to be working.

I once asked a woman why she thought I worked at a particular store.  She explained that it was winter and I wasn’t wearing a coat, so I must have a long-term plan for staying in the store (i.e. employment).  That made sense, well at least more sense than the fact I rarely wear a coat in winter.

A younger me would get asked if I worked somewhere every 1-2 months.  Every once in a while, I knew the store well enough I could help the poor, lost soul who thought I was worthy of employment, but more often than not I was just as lost as they were.  The type of store I was in didn’t seem to matter, though I was stopped more often in one particular store.  More on that later.

Orange is my favorite of color shirt to wear.  It’s not my favorite color, that honor is reserved for slightly brighter than street sign green.  But as far as shirts go, orange is the best.  They look great and are always more comfortable than a similarly designed blue, or perhaps black shirt.  My earliest encounter with orange shirts was in high school.  Our school colors were blue and orange.  For PE my junior and senior years, I took a weight lifting class.  Our 'Excel' gym shirts were a fantastic orange with a blue panther across the front (and my last name written in black marker across my back).  A classic look, if I do say so myself.

Another class I took in high school was wood shop.  Mr. Groth’s amazing woodworking skill and teaching instilled a life-long love of tools in me.  As a result, there no store in which I aimlessly wander more than The Home Depot.  Aisle after aisle of wonderful tools I didn’t need and couldn’t afford.  All in my orange shirt…  It’s no wonder I got asked if I worked at Home Depot so often.