You’re Being Punked But In The Good Way

About twenty years ago, I was working at a mall store for clothing, accessories, and novelty items of a goth, punk, and indie nature. We had this kid named Frankie who would come in often. He was about eleven or twelve and was just starting to get into punk music. He and his mom would come in all the time, and they were just the best kind of customers — polite, friendly, and not a**holes like most of our clientele.

He’s been coming in for a few months, and Christmas was nearing. A coworker and I decided that we wanted to get Frankie some small gifts since he was such a cool kid. We bought a bunch of punk band patches and pins online that the store didn’t carry. We tucked the present away and waited for Frankie to come in again.

A week or so later, in walked Frankie and his mom. We pulled her to the side and let her know what we’d gotten him and gave her a chance to approve the presents. Seeing his little face light up when we gave him the stuff was just so awesome. I think he was sort of intimidated by us, as I was borderline goth and the other guy was punk all the way (huge mohawk, etc). It was nice to be able to show him and his mom that “counter-culture” people weren’t all bad.