Friday, November 21, 2008


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Yesterday I stopped in at Office Depot looking for something my son will needs next semester. I searched the aisles for the item myself with no luck though I found many similar items.

I passed by a Super Geek on my way to the help desk pondering whether or not to ask him. His scholarly glasses covering scrunched black eyes and lack of fashion prowess indicated a certain knowledge of all things gadgety. I myself was wearing black sweat pants which are entirely too short with a very unmatching green sweater.Did I mention my white and red running shoes? So, it's not like I have any room to criticize what not to wear... and on top of my dressing inadequacies, I certainly don't emit a copious amount of brain waves which benefit the planet. Anyhow, Super Geek looked engrossed in an important technological discussion on his black headset with another employee across the store, so I marched up to a handsome young man behind the help desk. You know, eye candy for someone about 20 years younger than myself.

"Hi," I say.

"Hey," he answers with a confident smile on his face, in a friendly customer service tone, making good eye contact.

"I'm looking for a very nerdy calculator which I know absolutely nothing about. It's called something Nspire, and it's for people who can actually perform higher mathematical equations than myself," I announce.

"Oh, that I wouldn't know nearly as much about that as Matt. Let me call him." Yep, he contacts Super Geek to help me out.

Super Geek is called to me but cannot stand to make eye contact. He walks toward the aisle I'd previously visited without a word. He searches the rack, and says without enthusiasm, "Not here. We had 'em when school started, but they're all gone."

"Um, could I order one?" I suggest.

"From here? Why don't you go to the dealer or something," still in dead pan.

"Like Texas Instruments?" I inquire.

"Prolly something like texasinstruments.com. I don't know. You could order one at the desk I guess," he mutters.

"K, thanks," I offer as he suddenly walks off in another direction.

And there, my friends, is a lesson in how to not to close a deal. I checked officedepot.com and sure enough, one can order them from Office Depot.

That calculator is the most expensive one I've ever seen. What was Super Geek thinking? Maybe he was seriously contemplating some math problem in his brain I couldn't begin to solve.

Note to self: All that, "Please look in my eyes when we are talking" with my children hopefully will make a difference in their future.

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