You Like Reggae Music?

I don't normally shop at Wal-Mart, particularly after learning how the chain displaces local businesses and since reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. The book chronicles the author during her tenure working for the company and yields some insights into the life of a Wal-Mart employee, many of whom are among the working poor.

I digress.

I went to Wal-Mart during my lunch hour in search of Luigi and Guido, Chick Hicks, King, Fillmore, Sarge, and Lizzie. These characters from the Disney Pixar movie Cars are the beloved of my nephew Alec. My brother is collecting two of each--one for Alec to play with and another to put away for safekeeping. Some of them are hard to come by and thus a cross-country search for the characters has ensued.

I digress again.

As I am walking through the parking lot, a woman leans out of her driver-side door and hollers, "Excooose me!"

I scan the lot for the body of the voice and she says again, "Excuse me, ma'am."

"Hello."

"Do you like reggae music?" she asks.

I do a quick mental scan of my possible replies and the possible outcomes of this conversation based on each of my responses. I decide that nothing worthwhile could come out of telling her that yes, I do like Jimmy Cliff, Toots & the Maytals, Bob Marley, and Ziggy Marley among others.

"No," I lie.

Puzzled, and thinking that surely she knows I am lying, I carry on. And one day later, I find myself still wondering why she asked. I assumed she wanted to sell me some pirated CDs or other item, but who knows?