Friday Reflection: The Curious Incident

A friend and I were making final decisions about the various clothing items we had collected when I recognized the musical strains floating through the deserted store as a song I had recently become enamored with (White Sky by Vampire Weekend). After exclaiming to my companion about the awesomeness of the song, we proceeded to the check out stand where the obviously bored clerk seemed excited by the prospect of interacting! With real humans!

Apparently, Wednesday morning is not a busy time for the retail world.

She was pretty talkative and commented at one point on how weird the store's music was. Having just mentioned to my friend how I liked the current song, I felt obligated to defend it as one of my recent favorites. She looked flustered for a second before admitting that maybe this song was okay, but there was some definitely weird stuff in the store's musical selection. To prove her point she cited a particular song that went on about handstands and strawberries. I got inside-excited at this point because I knew she was referring to Bruises by Chairlift. It's an adorable song I happened across a while ago that has since made its way into many a playlist in my collection. I asked if that was it, and she admitted it was. Instead of being embarrassed about having accidentally-maybe-backhandedly insulted a customer's musical proclivities twice, she launched into a giggly, chipmunk-style rendition of the song; a humorous way of defending her perception of the song without arguing with me about my opinion. Nicely done.

It was a weird interaction, especially considering I try to not make eye contact with people I don't know, and rarely engage in chit-chat with cashiers. Way to go Marni from Old Navy, you managed to drag me out of my shell. Plus, you made me feel capable of conversing about music, which I typically don't consider myself informed enough to do.