What's in a name?

Ever have people meet your eye and know that simply by where you are or position you hold that you've been cast in their own personal fantasy realm?

Oddly enough, that happens to me somewhat often. The "porn store clerk" seems to conjure images in many minds. Kids come in looking for work with visions of writing their own "Penthouse Forums Letter". As if there is an end-less cavalcade of porn stars and adventurous sex flowing in from the front door leaving me, the hapless clerk, bone-weary amidst spent condoms and lube residue. Not to drive a pin the size of an aircraft carrier through the spun-sugar bubble of salacious fantasy, but it's really no different from any other retail job. I may be ringing up a strap-on harness instead of a couch, the newest Evil Empire release instead of the newest Ralph Lauren design, or a bottle of silicone lubricant instead of a quart of synthetic engine oil, but it's still the same job.

People always remark that I must see some really wild things. Or perhaps that I meet really different people. You could say that, however I would hesitate to describe it as such. Yes, I have seen some things that sit outside the realm of most public experience. I have seen people enter dressed as one gender and leave as another. I have had folk attempt one-handed browsing. I have had people inquire seriously about almost every fetish that is out there. Fielding questions is part of the job, regardless of the subject matter. It doesn't cross my mind that it could be unusual. The rest? It's rare.

Most people that come into my store are just like anyone else you will meet on the street. Normal individuals that removed from the environment of the store would not look out of place.

As much fun as it is at times causing a small stir meeting new people who ask me what it is that I do, it can also be incredibly tedious. Instant assumptions as to my character and interests. Immediate determination of my morals.

Sometimes the great collective imagination can be a pain in the arse on a colossal scale.