You’ve Got That Company Smell

(I’m shopping in a store whose employees wear blue shirts and khaki pants. I’m wearing a black “Jurassic Park” T-shirt and black jeans.)

Customer: *looking directly at me* “Excuse me. Where are your restrooms?”

Me: “Hmm?” *looks around briefly, finding that I’m the only other person in the aisle* “Oh, I don’t work here, but those doors right there are restrooms.” *points*

Customer: “Thank you.”

(The strange part is, I did work for the store’s chain before… over a year ago and in a state over eight-hundred miles away. At that moment, I feared that I’d worked for the company for so long that customers would always be able to sense the company on me, no matter where I went or what I wore.)