Over the past week or two, I've suffered some minor mishaps which lead me to wonder about the shortcomings of human behavior.. Namely, 2 instances of the need to be aware of the meanness of others and 1 case of the lack of carefulness (and self-awareness) on my part.
1) I walked into a hi-fi store looking for info. on turntable repair. Of course I got distracted by the products on display like digital cameras, new turntables, and the like. What I noticed, after a while, was that no salesman one approached me.
I think that my untouchableness was due to my casual dress -- blue jeans, white sports shoes, black cap over shaggy hair, blue parka shell with a brown muffler. It bothered me momentarily, and I realized that the info. that I sought probably couldn't be found in a store that sold new things and staffed by guys who were probably not much older than my turntable.
(Reminds me of the another time, years ago, when I bought my speakers in a hi-fi store, and I suffered the same problem. Salesmen avoided me. I had to approach someone to get service. It seemed that other potential customers were getting approached. Apparently, I looked too poor. Guess I still do.)
Lesson: be aware of how salespeople might judge you by the way you're dressed and your appearance. Adjust your behavior accordingly.
2) Last night I was at a club in DC, trying to juggle my point-and-shoot cameras, a steno pad, backpack, and my gloves. I'd just walked in, stuck my gloves under my arm and was shuffling the other things into position so I could cover the bands about to play on stage.
I think someone stole my gloves from under my arm. (I may have dropped them, but they weren't to be found on the floor at the end of the show. And no had turned them in at the bar.) They were a mismatched pair of insulated winter gloves, so I'm not sure if anyone else would want to wear them. (I'll bet I'm one of the very few odd people that wears mismatched gloves.) Why someone would want to steal my gloves is a mystery, but I can imagine that some people have a predilection for mischief or theft.
Lesson: keep your possessions secure in crowded situations. (Keep reviewing a list of your articles so that you don't forget things, until it's too late.)
3) The night before, I'd stayed up till the wee hours of the morning trying to hook-up my turntable. A friend had recently troubleshooted and fixed it. (All it required was a new phono plug.) But when I tried to remove the needle from the cartridge, it wouldn't budge. (I was trying to make sure I wouldn't damage the needle when I mounted the cartridge back on the tonearm.)
I pulled harder, and the needle popped out and onto the table (and bounced!) When I looked at the needle with a magnifying glass, I compared it too the previous needle (which I happened to have kept.) It looked like it was but a sliver of the old one, so I guessed that I'd probably splintered the thing. That means I gotta buy a new one.
(It still can play records. I tried it out. But I think in its condition, it is liable to ruin the grooves rather quickly -- not desirable.)
Lesson: don't push your luck when working with fragile, tiny parts... don't push yourself past your limits of endurance. Exhaustion and low energy level can affect your judgement and fine motor control.
Posted by raacluse at March 23, 2004 06:49 PM