One thing I hate about shopping in public is that there are people around. Like salespeople. But at least they leave you alone when you tell them, "No thanks." Then there are the other shoppers. Sure, there are the crazy people who get in your way, but they're nowhere near as annoying as those shoppers who think the store is a social free-for-all. Take, for instance, the lady who kept following me around, giving me unsolicited advice when all I wanted was to get a pair of jeans to replace the worn out ones that I do have.
Now unsolicited advice isn't all bad. If an expert decides to tell me how to best run an experiment or some random person tells me how to eat some food without it getting on my shirt, that's terrific. But pants with elastic waistbands? Please. I might be the untrendiest twenty-something in the pacific northwest, but there is no way in hell I'm taking fashion advice from a middle-aged, frumpy hausfraus in a tracksuit.
