Of All The Days To Put One’s Foot In One’s Mouth
It is late in the evening, and I have had an issue with a rash on the side of my foot, most likely athlete’s foot brought on by wearing my shoes too long. Foot sprays have had little effect, so after my evening activities and before I finally go home to take off the sweaty shoes I’ve been wearing since 6:00 that morning, I stop at the local drug store, still dressed in my teacher clothes with my school staff badge hanging off my belt, to get some over-the-counter anti-fungal creme. This, of course, is kind of embarrassing, so I’m hoping to get in, find it, and get out with a minimum of fuss.
No such luck.
The over-the-counter foot medicines are on the back wall of the store, and I exhaust all of the aisles before finally looking on the back wall. Just as I’m stooping down to pick it up, a man that I have been going around in several of the aisles as I search, walks up to me.
Man: “Excuse me, where are the [whatever item he was looking for]?”
I didn’t really listen to what he was saying. Instead, I turned to look at him with a very tired expression.
Man: “Oh, I guess you don’t work here, do you?”
Me: “No, sir, I do not.”
Man: “Well, I just thought you might since you have the badge and all that.”
The badge was on my opposing hip, away from him. He must have seen it as we passed each other in the aisles and decided I was an employee. Why an employee would be wandering up and down the aisles instead of restocking or manning the registers, I’ll never guess. But as he was now more embarrassed than I was with a box of foot fungus cream in my hand, he quickly walked away and found someone wearing the uniform for that store.
That was the limit of the encounter, but it was enough for me to want to flee the store. Still, I managed to smile on the way out as I thought about the fun I would have submitting it to Not Always Right.
