Girls and Guitar Center

So I went into Guitar Center yesterday to pick out a present for my little brother.

No sooner had I set foot in the place than a salesperson was upon me, asking if I need help. Usually I hate this, but in this case I did need some assistance with picking the right item [can't be too specific here--you never know who is reading]. This guy pointed me toward the sales counter, behind which were stacks of what I was looking for.

No sooner had I bent down to get a closer look at the different brands and prices, than another guy practically leaped from the other end of the counter over to where I was. I asked a few questions, he helped me choose what I wanted, and then proceeded to start ringing me up. During this, he was asking me all sorts of questions (the first one, as always, "How you do you pronounce your name?" followed immediately by "What is that--I mean, does it mean something?"). Asked if I played any instruments, and yadda yadda. Was very enthusiastic about the very generous Guitar Center redturn policy, gave me his card (GC makes personalized business cards for all its employees!) and said he can get me online discounts if I call in.

I texted Linus that I had a very good customer service experience in Guitar Center. His response was basically "Well duh.. there was a girl in there!" I was incredulous. I'm sure girls go in there all the time, I insisted. Linus responded that if I had gone in there and asked for a guitar, they would have built me one right there out of wood and string. Bit of an exaggeration, no? There are PLENTY of girl musicians and girl rockers at that. I mean, it's not like I went into GameStop (of course there, nobody comes over to help you because they're all too shy and nerdy).

Anyway, fast forward to yesterday evening when I decided to go and hear a friend/fellow Ferrante teacher's set at a bar near Universal Studios. Linus couldn't make it and I never heard back from the roomie so I went solo. Which was fine except that first thing when I walked in, a creepy-looking dude clapped me on the shoulder and make some kind of remark. I missed England briefly (people go to pubs by themselves all the time there). Then I sat down at my friend's table so I could avoid further accosting.

They were about to play so I introduced myself to the other guy sitting at the table. He said he knew my friend from working with him at Guitar Center. Naturally I said something like, "Oh, I was just there today! Everyone was so awesome to me" or something. His response: "Well, girls never come in there." Well, my jaw must have dropped a little. I told him that he was the second person to say that to me today. I repeated Linus's comment to him and he said, "Yep, that's pretty much true." He says when girls come in, they're always with their boyfriends who are buying stuff.

Well, that's my little anecdote for the day.

Oh--and when I left the bar that night (I was on the phone so maybe the guy thought I couldn't hear), I heard the bouncer (also on his phone) say, "the one cute girl in the place just left."