Phone Surveillance

This story is actually true.

A few weeks ago I went to Best Buy to find a digital audio recorder. I'd been doing a lot of interviews over the phone, and I was sick of trying to take notes while attempting to maintain rapport with my subject, so I thought a recorder with a phone attachment would be a good idea.

I wandered around the store for a while, trying to figure out what section it would be in. Cameras? It's a recorder, maybe...nope.

Mp3 players...audio...nope.

After about half an hour of lapping the store I'd had enough and decided to look to an employee for help, but they were all taken with a customer or running one way or another, and I was stuck meandering.

Have you noticed that when you're in a store, time does weird things? If you're browsing and looking at things that interest you, hours can float by. If I'm in a used bookstore, I only notice the time passing when Heather faints from hypoglycemic shock.

But when you have to wait around and there's nothing there that interests you, it's just the opposite. Every second scrapes by like a nail on a chalkboard

This was nail-on-a-chalkboard time.

So, I skulked around aimlessly for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, while I was mentally cursing the staff for their neglect, someone finally came up and asked me if I needed help.

I turned to the young man and said "Yes, I'm looking for a digital audio recorder and a phone attachment."

He said "Great!" and started to lead me, but I had to make him pay for my boredom.

As he started walking, I stood there and added "You see, I'm stalking my ex, and I really want to take it to the next level."

He turned and looked at me, and I smiled, so he started laughing.

Then I dropped my smile and stared at him, wide-eyed.

He stopped laughing.

The look on his face almost made it worth the wait.