Shopping Around

A few weeks ago our car stereo broke, so this weekend we went to Future Shop to buy a replacement. We intended to wait until we bought a new car, but we quickly learnt that the music had been drowning out our fevered, shrill screams directed at moronic drivers in morning rush hour. One more drive listening to each other holler obscenities at fellow commuters and our heads were going to explode, showering the road with expletives like the wreckage from a car crash.

Since I have no interest or knowledge in car electronics, I abandoned Future Shop for a distinctly female expedition: shopping for stuff I don't need. I bought a decorative scarf to wear with things like t-shirts and tank-tops, because that's the kind of Stuff White People Like; I got another sports bra so that I don't have to wear an old sweaty one when I forget to do the laundry; and I got some New York Fries in the food court, because what's the point of going to the gym if you don't have any fat to work off?

The most interesting part of the afternoon wasn't when Luc tried to show me how to navigate song folders and playlists on the new stereo, but rather my bizarre encounter with a peppy clothing store sales associate. Upon entering the store she gave me the obligatory, "hiiiiii, how's it going???", which elicited a half-assed smile and groan from me. This sedated reaction to a bubbly greeting usually ensures me at least a ten foot radius of browsing space. Maybe I don't shop enough and the purchaser-seller relationship has been restructured over the past few months, but it came as a shock to me when the girl asked what my plans were for the weekend. I stumbled over my answer, visibly perturbed by her needling into my personal life. "Uhhh...umm...I guess I'm watching the, uh, the hockey game tonight." She pressed on and asked where I was watching the game, whom I was watching the game with, and if I was going out afterwards. I crumbled under the pressure and ended up inviting her to watch the game at my parents' house and to stay for a sleepover...I think that was what she wanted, even though she declined my invitation. Luckily we had the new car stereo to muffle my tears of rejection on the drive home from the mall.