The guys follow her around anyway...

Speaking of sexy Halloween costumes.  Made a pit stop at Barnes and Noble this morning for a quick cup of coffee.  Got sidetracked at the new releases table by Michael Lewis' new book, The Blind Side.  While I was skimming through it, I overheard three sales clerks talking about the store's plans for Halloween.  All three were college-aged women.

First clerk:  Well, I'm not wearing my costume to the store.

Second clerk:  No?

First clerk:  It's inappropriate.

Second clerk:  What is it?

First clerk:  I'm going as a Catholic school girl.

The other two clerks laugh.

First clerk:  Seriously.  If I walk in here wearing that little pleated skirt...

Third clerk:  You'd have the guys coming up to you all day.

First clerk:  I already do.  They already do come up to me.

Second clerk:  That's right.

First clerk:  Really.  As soon as I'm through that door, Bill and Steve and you know, they're like following right after me.  "Can you do this?"  "Oh, can you show me where that is?"

Second clerk:  Yep.

First clerk:  I don't need any more of that.

Comments

[blue girl]

This reminds me of a story...

My friend, who at the time was in her 20s, kept complaining she couldn't find a boyfriend. So, I had an idea one day to fix her up with this one guy I knew. And I said...

Even if you don't *like him like him,* maybe you'll hit it off as friends. He's a good guy. You'll have a new friend.

Her response?

I have enough friends.

Snot.

[Exiled in New Jersey]

This little episode ties in neatly with your last post. Ms. Charen's got it all wrong; growing up fifty plus years ago, I recall adults in our middle class neighborhood of war vets did nothing on Halloween but hand out candy. The ten year old me used to love that day because it was the one holiday your parents did not barge into. Seems somewhere in those intervening years, adults decided to steal Halloween from the kids.

[Jennifer]

"The ten year old me used to love that day because it was the one holiday your parents did not barge into."

As I watch parents being the cruise directors for their children's lives, I wonder, are they hyper-involved out of a need for safety and control or do they not want to give up being a child themselves. I love my kids and will do anything for my kids, but I also so vividly remember my parents and I also having our separate lives.

[Matt T.]

blue girl,
I got a co-worker like that. In fact, I've had more or less that same convorsation with her, and from what I understand, I'm not the only one who has. I've come to the decision that some people - maybe not your friend and maybe not my co-worker, but definately some folks - seem like they'd prefer to be alone so they can complain about being alone rather than doing something about it. I'd almost say they enjoy the misery, but that's not quite the right word. Course, fixing up friends seems to be a recipie for disaster (for me, anyway), so it probably all worked out for the best.

Now, that all being said, am I the only one who thinks the whole "Catholic school girl" sexy Halloween costume thing has been done to death? You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a dozen of them on Halloween. Maybe it's just a local thing, I dunno, or maybe because I'm in my thirties now, the idea that dressing up as a pre-adolescent makes a girl sexy as hell just gives me, personally, the oogies. Who knows.

[Mike Schilling]

I've come to the decision that some people - maybe not your friend and maybe not my co-worker, but definately some folks - seem like they'd prefer to be alone so they can complain about being alone rather than doing something about it.

Reminds me of yers ago when I was at a meeting of my company's users' group. A customer came to my table and complained that the product didn't do such-and-such.

"Sure it does. You just type this right here, and it'll do A, B, and C. Is that what you need?"

It was, and he was not happy about it. I had taken his grievance away.

[blue girl]

I've come to the decision that some people - maybe not your friend and maybe not my co-worker, but definately some folks - seem like they'd prefer to be alone so they can complain about being alone rather than doing something about it.

Unconsciously, that may have been my friend's MO, but it was more her little snobberoo attitude about being such a socialite and having so many friends that she just couldn't possibly have even one more enter her busy, busy life.

It was the same attitude I imagined First Clerk above to have...I don't need any more of that.

Well, la-tee-da!

Even though it's a good decision on her part not to wear that Catholic school girl costume to work. In my opinion, anyway.

Oh, and to my friend K -- just in case you read Mannion's blog and you've never told me...You know it's true! You know you said that! Admit it!

:)

[blue girl]

Oops. I forgot to close the tag. Sorry, LM!

[Ken Muldrew]

"I have enough friends."

This reminded me of an old Barney Miller episode where some old folks refuse to obey an eviction notice, promising to fight to the death if necessary. Barney Miller ended the standoff with a poignant speech that ended, "I don't have enough really good friends that I can afford to lose even one".

[Rasselas]

Maybe she was quoting Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2: Die Harder, in which "I've got enough friends" is the kiss-off to the sub-villain's "I like you ... We could have been friends..." villain-monologue.

Read that way, "I've got enough friends" is a specimen of the Pre-emptive Rejection, Sub-category: Coolness, familiar to many of us from our high school pretensions.

[tbogg]

I told you guys that catholic schoolgirl look is popular...particularly at my daughter's school.

[Mickle]

Let me tell you, I have beyond had it with guys trying to hit on my co-workers and expecting us all to laugh at their tired old jokes. (Gosh, the scanner isn't working - my book must be free! Aren't I so original?) Because they're guys, so they must be funny. And we're girls, so we must think they are hi-larious. But most of all we are lowly retail service employees and if we ever even hint that the customer is not always right and completely splendiferous we deserve to be fired - or at least yelled at.

The parents who seem to think I'm being rude when I ask them to not let their children destroy our books - or do something that is dangerous to themselves or others - are on the same list.

I now have a shiny new part-time job elsewhere, but will still be working part time at B&N. I am so ready to shock the hell out of these blinded by privilege idiots and tell them exactly how rude and abusive I find them to be. Because I am so over caring if I get fired or not. Besides, I really doubt the next library I apply to will give a shit if I got in trouble at a big box bookstore because I told some jackasses to stop harrassing my co-workers. Whether a threat to make police report is involved or not.

Note: People who are rude to me because they are having bad day get a pass. Cousins grandmothers who fail to say hi because they don't recognize me simply because they can't be bothered to look the cashier in the eye, do not, however.