Sunday, August 27, 2006

A Little Too Much Information...

Due to someone going on vacation at the Tribeca store, I was asked to fill in. I was really excited about the opportunity since I've been in the park since I started back and the format is a bit different. I prefer a setting in which you can get to know the customers a little bit better.

The L train was down again today! It made getting to Tribeca very difficult. The directions that were given to me were a little less than stellar as well, so it made it a bit hard to find. Eventually though I made it over and started working. It reminded me of the old store that I used to work at and made me miss it quite a bit. (The old store is now a luxury condo building.)

A woman came in with her son, who was maybe a year and a half old. She was blonde and her son had BRIGHT red hair. Fire engine red. We were chatting about various things, mostly about taking care of a small child and I commented on her son's hair, saying, "Does the red hair run on your side? The daddy must have red hair." She said, "No. No. Well... yes, actually he does." I didn't really know she meant and gave her a slightly confused look. The first thing that jumped into my mind was that maybe her husband shaved his head or dyed his hair. But she went on to explain saying, "Yeah, I had an affair and my lover had bright red hair like my son."

My jaw dropped a little and my eyes got wide.

At that moment, the door of the restaurant swung open and a balding man with dark brown hair came in. The woman looked at me, raised a finger to her lips and made a "hush" signal, and then winked at me. Apparently the man was her husband. My eyes just got bigger and I found I couldn't really look at him directly in the face. She then went on to say, "I was just telling this nice young man about how my Granny had the most beautiful red hair." The customer winked at me again.

I don't know what it is, but people seem to want to confess all their darkest secrets to me. I think it's very flattering that this stranger decided to include me in her circle of confidants, but it was an extremely awkward position. It was definitely a smile and nod sort of situation.

2 comments:

artgyrl said...

I'd be shocked at the woman's boldness if anything else. I mean, why would she tell anyone something like that, let alone a complete stranger. . .

Andrew Thornton said...

I'm not sure why she would tell anyone. I know if it had been me, I wouldn't have said anything at all. However, I've met people like her before who were wealthy and experiencing domestic elitist ennui and wanted to spice things up. I know for myself, I've got too much stuff to worry about to be creating scandalous intrigues.