A face made for retail

A few years ago, I noticed this strange phenomenon. Whenever I was walking around in around shopping, I would be approached by people for assistance. The first few times I thought it was a coincidence, but it started happening more often to point that my analytical mind had to find the root cause of this. I broke down the possibilities into three categories: uniform, focus and look.

Uniform

Almost every major retailer has a company has a company uniform. Some companies have a hierarchy with workers wearing polo shirts and management wearing shirts and ties. If you don’t believe me, spend 5 minutes next time you are at the store and look at the clerks and you will see. Fry’s Electronics is black slacks, white button-shirt and tie. Target is brown khaki slacks and burgundy polo shirt. Walgreens’ employees wear an apron or jacket. All employees wear nametags so you can easily identify them as employees. Since I only occasionally am wearing the same dress code that the employees are required to follow, I can’t say definitively that it is the source of all the inquiries. So we more on to the second possibility…

Focus

I am focused. When I go shopping, I know what I want and I get there. Even when I’m lost, I am intently focused on being as lost as I can be. It’s who I am. I don’t think it’s sexist to say women tend to be browsers when shopping and men tend to be focused. Ask Dr. John Gray. I’m very Martian in that way. So when I’m making my beeline to Housewares to buy a pizza stone, people assume I must be an employee because no one walks that decisively unless they work there. While this holds some possibilities, there must be something else that causes people to stop me and ask, “Excuse me. Do you work here?” So we look at the third possibility…

Look

I don’t know how else to describe this. There are some people you naturally turn to and some you avoid when you want help. I seem to have one of those helpful faces. Maybe it’s the high forehead or the arched eyebrows. I try to make eye contact with people as much as possible and say hello even though I consider myself a shy and awkward person. Maybe it’s they case that I have this intangible quality that people are born with. Maybe it wouldn’t matter what I wore, what kind of store I was in or how I acted. Maybe. Just maybe. I have a face made for retail.

Shawn DeMumbrum
SpazDog Comics
www.spazdogcomics.com
SpazDog Press
www.spazdogpress.com

Email: shawn@spazdogcomics.com
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