Mistaken Identity

I was copying something out of a book on snowboarding at Barnes and Noble (no Borders in Bend), and three kids walked by, probably about 10 years old, one of them carrying a skateboard. One of them stopped and said "Whoa, is that a book on snowboarding?" I told him that it was and that there were several of them just around the corner on the bottom shelf. Distracted by my task, I didn't really think before I answered his next question, and what that answer might mean to a 10 year old skatepunk. So when he asked me if I was a snowboarder I said "yes". After all, I had spent the last 4 days, and 6 of the last 8 snowboarding. I mean, I call my myself a writer and a photographer even though I have not been published in either medium. They walked around the corner, but not out of sight. Continuing my copying I noticed them standing there, half looking at the books, half looking at me. And what a sight I presented. Blue jeans on their 5th consecutive day, a nappy old fleece, a ski cap that could pass for a color wheel, 6 days of beard growth, and to top off the experience, no shower in 5 days. Thinking they were still interested in the books I looked up and told them "further down, on the bottom shelf". They slowly wandered off, only to return from behind, one of them asking me if I worked there. At this point I started to get it, and realized that when I said "snowboarder", they heard "SNOWBOARDER". For the next 5 minutes or so as I wandered around the store I had a little group following me a few stacks back. A little later, as I sat on the floor in the Travel section reading a book on National Parks, they made their last pass, slowly walking by, trying to figure out who I was. I'm glad they didn't stop to ask, I think we all might have been a little let down if I had to tell them the truth.