A blog about sex. Reviews, product information and discussion of the sexual climate from a Queensland rural and regional perspective. For ages 18+.

Monday, 16 January 2012

The first 15.

I turn the lock and open the door. Before I have poked my head outside to see if the coast is clear to pop out the signs, a woman has barreled into the store. She is looking for a joke present for a friend. I direct her to our Specials and she makes a choice. When serving her, a small child frog-hops past the door with its father close behind. He lays his hand peremptorily on the door and begins to drag it shut. As I stare at him, he explains "I'm just gong to shut this door for the kids..."
"Don't touch that door!" He is confused.
"But the children that walk past..." He begins to re-explain.
"We do not display 18+ things in the front of our store, please leave our property alone."
It's frustrating he has the audacity to dictate decency. It would be easier for him to world-proof his child than to try to child-proof the world, but they still try. I stare at him, until he takes his hand off our door and he leaves quickly.
I remember my customer and shoot a glance at her. I was worried about coming off too harsh but to my surprise, she is nodding. "If he doesn't want to walk his child past a sex shop, he should walk other places," she observes. She adds, "My kid is in a car." She is so great, her attitude balances out Mr. Self-Entitled Parent and I feel better as she leaves. She moves aside to allow a regular to buy his weekly magazine.

It's hot, and he's a bit special. At the counter, complaining about the heat, he swipes his hand across his face as evidence and holds it up, dripping in sweat for my perusal. I can do nothing to disguise the horror on my face, feeling physically repelled by his bodily fluids. He totally misreads my facial expression. Smiling, he gives me a thumbs up, and says he'll see me next week.

Next up, another gentleman walks in with a crumpled $10 note. He asks for change, and then my eyes are drawn to what he has in his other hand; a still-smoking roll-your-own cigarette! On the premises! I freak out. In a voice that is too shrill for my own ears I hear myself say "You are smoking a cigarette in the STORE!"
He beats a hasty retreat. I jack up the fans, hit the pheromone spritzer hard, and open the back door to create a wind tunnel. The store stinks, and I haven't had my coffee yet. I love this job for many reasons, just one being the variety, but sometimes...

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