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Sunday 1st May, 2005 - 11.17am

Music Store Staff Have No Taste - or, My Mum Thinks I'm Cool

I was randomly shopping yesterday, and I found a movie that I never thought would end up on DVD - Fatal Instinct. Now, I'm fully aware that this movie isn't exactly a shining example of cinematic artistry - but fuck it, I love the bloody thing. And for $15, I was sure as hell going to buy it.

So I take it up to the front counter to get served by some kid that looked so fresh-faced, innocuous and personality free I had to double check that I hadn't just approached a cardboard cutout of Jesse McCartney by mistake. (Do you think, when they finished getting Jesse McCartney to pose for his cardboard cutout, that there may have been a moment of confusion as they tried to distinguish between the real Jesse McCartney and the cardboard cutout? Is there really a difference? It would certainly explain the quality of his acting in Summerland. Perhaps the cardboard cutouts of Jesse McCartney were cut out from another cardboard cutout of Jesse McCartney? Which came first, the Jesse or the cutout? But I digress.)

So the kid/Jesse McCartney/cardboard cutout took the case out the back to find the disc, and started reading the back cover while he went. When he walked back out he'd finished reading, (which made me wonder if he'd actually gone out the back to get the disc, or if the disc was already in there, and he'd simply gone out of sight to sound out the big words) and he announced to me "this sounds like a pretty crap movie."

Um - hello? Man standing right in front of you about to buy it? Who the hell says that kind of thing about something someone is about to buy? Do the staff at fast food outlets warn their customers they shouldn't upgrade to the large fries because they're a bit tubby already? Do real estate agents say "I'll show you this house, but it's a bit shit"? I was completely shocked.

The worst part is right now I feel shocked and outraged; but at the time I was shocked and embarrassed. I know I have my own taste in music and other people will like other things and I'm perfectly entitled to like whatever the fuck I want, but I had a pang of guilt and shame when he called my movie crap. I even tried to defend it, but it didn't work. He still called it crap. I was so embarrassed I briefly considered buying something else to get my cred back.

"What if I buy this Jack Johnson CD? Jack Johnson is cool, right? Or...or...this Slipknot t-shirt? Maybe I'll buy something in vinyl. People who buy actual records always look cool. Will that make me cool? Tell me what I need! Anything - TELL MEEEEEEEE..."

It was only a brief consideration, though. I held my resolve. And now I'm just angry. In fact, I think I might go back to the store today and buy The Bay City Rollers' Greatest Hits, an Ashlee Simpson Live DVD (which is what? An hour and a half of silence?) and a Knight Rider t-shirt just to prove I don't need their approval.

Maybe then they'll think I'm cool.

Echo Echo Echo - 7:55 pm , 2007-03-20

Music Store Staff Have No Taste - or, My Mum Thinks I'm Cool - 11.17am , Sunday 1st May, 2005

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