No, actually I don't work here

[Trekker4747]

Hell, there's sometimes when I DON'T like being recognised as someone who works at my store.

Few weeks ago I'm walking to my office to have my lunch, I'm walking from the front-end where I got my lunch and on my way to where the offices are, I've got my paper under my arm, I'm holding a drink in one hand and in the other hand I'm carrying a plate of food.

I get stopped half-way along my journey by some octogenarian woman who needed help getting some item that was on the top shelf and pushed back, she never once apologized for interupting my obvious lunch nor offered to help hold my food while I got the item, had to set my plate on the floor.

But, yeah, I've gone into places while wearing my work-clothes and gotten stopped by people needing help finding things, with questions, and such. Even been stopped when wearing so obviously not a uniform for the place.

Oh!

And relevant link! Improv Everywhere: BestBuy Experiment

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

BIG time points for that one guy evading detection not just by asking for Star Trek DVDs...

But for DS9 DVDs!!!!!

The Cardassian Union hereby places its one-time seal of approval upon an act of disorder.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Happened to me a couple of times or more. On a few occasions, I actually helped the customer. OTOH, I don't feel bad because I've done it to a few people who aren't employees.

 

[Trekker4747]

When I was a kid I went to JC Penny's with my mom as she shopped for clothes I was kind of walking around. In one of their displays they had a large soldier (it looked like one of those nut-cracker things) and a family of mannequins around it. Being an odd sort I sidled up to the "father" and said, "So, did you buld him?" (my thinking being this "father" had built a robot to service his family.)

Imagine my surprise when the "father" turned to me, looked perplexed, and said, "What?"

 

[Lookingglassman]

The only thing I am mistaken for is Mexican and I aint even Hispanic. I went to a local Mexican restaurant and the dude kept speaking Spanish to me. I was like, "Dude, I'm bi-racial, not Mexican I only speak American!"

 

[Gryffindorian]

The only thing I am mistaken for is Mexican and I aint even Hispanic. I went to a local Mexican restaurant and the dude kept speaking Spanish to me. I was like, "Dude, I'm bi-racial, not Mexican I only speak American!"

Meh, Spanish-speaking people who don't speak English very well (or not at all) will tend to do that anyway to other people, and it shouldn't be taken as something offensive. You said you're bi-racial; are you half-Hispanic? If so, that would explain it.

I'm Asian/Pacific, but many times I've gone to businesses with mostly Hispanic employees, they've spoken to me in Spanish, which I studied in high school and college, but I still won't be able to carry on a conversation with a native speaker. I can write a paragraph easily in Spanish, though.

When I go to Chinatown (downtown Oakland, CA where I work), older people have spoken to me in Cantonese or Mandarin, and I don't think I look Chinese. So it's got more to do with language skills than anything else.

 

[Gryffindorian]

When I was a kid I went to JC Penny's with my mom as she shopped for clothes I was kind of walking around. In one of their displays they had a large soldier (it looked like one of those nut-cracker things) and a family of mannequins around it. Being an odd sort I sidled up to the "father" and said, "So, did you buld him?" (my thinking being this "father" had built a robot to service his family.)

Imagine my surprise when the "father" turned to me, looked perplexed, and said, "What?"

Your story reminds me of the time I was at Mervyn's (when I was a teen) and was waiting on my two older sisters who were shopping around the store as I sat bored and oblivious. Finally, I sighed and turned my head when a man and his very young son passed by in front of me, the boy looking startled. The man laughed and said to me, "He thought you were a dummy." Then I realized there were two mannequins standing right next to me.

 

[gwud]

During winter I wear a long black coat and when I go to bars after work I usualy get mistaken for a bouncer. Its quite funny, especially as people try to show me ID, ask what times they close and stuff.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Hmm. I haven't been to a bar in 14 years. When I turned 21, I decided to go with my brother and his pals just for fun. I didn't really drink that much, and there weren't a lot of people, so it was pretty boring.

 

[comsol]

I work at a library, so I get people doing that to me in bookstores - they somehow know me from some place with books, so they assume that I work at the bookstore. It gets a little stranger when I have some of the employees refer customers to me - "hey, he works at a library so he should know what book you are looking for - and where it is located". On the other hand, I get some people who are surprised when they see me at a bookstore - at least until I explain that I am too busy to read, or even look at books when I am at work.

 

[jamestyler]

During winter I wear a long black coat and when I go to bars after work I usualy get mistaken for a bouncer. Its quite funny, especially as people try to show me ID, ask what times they close and stuff.

I had a mini-flashback reading that...

Thats happened to me twice now in Glasgow, both times I was wearing a black shirt and suit. The first time someone asked me to deal with someone who was sleazing on his GF. The other time a guy was drunk and started on me under the impression I couldn't give him a slap as he thought I was a bouncer.

The same thing happened to a mate in the same pub. Though he had enough of the guy by the end of the night and KO'd him

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

When i used to work at Disney, we all had uniforms. Mine were navy blue pants and white polo shirt. The shirt had a Disney logo over the breast pocket, and i wore a name tag. And people would STILL ask me if i worked there ...

 

[gwud]

During winter I wear a long black coat and when I go to bars after work I usualy get mistaken for a bouncer. Its quite funny, especially as people try to show me ID, ask what times they close and stuff.

I had a mini-flashback reading that...

Thats happened to me twice now in Glasgow, both times I was wearing a black shirt and suit. The first time someone asked me to deal with someone who was sleazing on his GF. The other time a guy was drunk and started on me under the impression I couldn't give him a slap as he thought I was a bouncer.

The same thing happened to a mate in the same pub. Though he had enough of the guy by the end of the night and KO'd him

It happened to me a lot during winter. I used to smoke so I'd be standing outside smoking by the door and with my posture and black Dr Martens, I do look like a bouncer. The test will be whether people still think I now I dont smoke.

 

[the Dagman]

I used to get mistaken for store employees all the time back when I worked in sales and dressed the part. Not so much anymore, as I usually have a day or two of beard growth at any given time.

The one that took the cake actually happened back when I was a teenager. I was at a gaming convention by the Oakland airport and my friends and I heard about a hauf brau with great food just across the freeway, so we drove over. Now I am only about 6'1", but I am pretty big and strong. Back in those days just out of high school I used to bench 350lbs. And on this particular day I was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a Fantastic Four "4" logo on it and a denim vest.

So anyways, we walk into the restaurant and are standing in line for our food when the owner of the place sees me. He starts to help me and my friends ahead of a couple of other people in line, acting all friendly like he knew me. And he seemed like a real nice guy to us, as we had no idea why he was treating us so well. He gave us huge portions of food, charged us a discounted price, and we took our trays and went to sit down to eat. We were saying to each other about how great a place this place really was, saying we'd have to thank the guy who recommended it to us.

As we were near finished with our dinners the owner comes over with free pie for all of us. It was getting too unbelievable how well he was treating us, a trio of teenagers. He sets down the pie, and pulls up a chair to sit at the end of our booth. He asks us how everything is going. We tell him it is great, that we were staying nearby for a couple of days and someone had recommended his place to us. Then he asks me about getting some tickets.

Tickets? You mean tickets for the convention? We don't have any tickets.


No, no, tickets for the Oakland Coliseum (which is only a block away from there). For the WWF wrestling matches that were going on that weekend and the pay-per-view the next day. He thought the logo on my shirt was for the Four Horsemen, and I was a pro wrestler! I try to explain to the guy that I was only 18 and we were at the gaming convention just across the freeway for the weekend. But he really didn't believe me, he just thought I was being stingy with the tickets. So he gets up and walks away in a huff. And we finish up quick before he decides to try to charge us for all the free food he gave us.

 

[Trekker4747]

That's pretty classic.

 

[Finn]

I work at a library, so I get people doing that to me in bookstores - they somehow know me from some place with books, so they assume that I work at the bookstore. It gets a little stranger when I have some of the employees refer customers to me - "hey, he works at a library so he should know what book you are looking for - and where it is located". On the other hand, I get some people who are surprised when they see me at a bookstore - at least until I explain that I am too busy to read, or even look at books when I am at work.

Perhaps it was because you were treating the books on the shelves the way you do at your library, making it appear as if you work at the bookstore.

 

[Gryffindorian]

During winter I wear a long black coat and when I go to bars after work I usualy get mistaken for a bouncer. Its quite funny, especially as people try to show me ID, ask what times they close and stuff.

I had a mini-flashback reading that...

Thats happened to me twice now in Glasgow, both times I was wearing a black shirt and suit. The first time someone asked me to deal with someone who was sleazing on his GF. The other time a guy was drunk and started on me under the impression I couldn't give him a slap as he thought I was a bouncer.

The same thing happened to a mate in the same pub. Though he had enough of the guy by the end of the night and KO'd him

It happened to me a lot during winter. I used to smoke so I'd be standing outside smoking by the door and with my posture and black Dr Martens, I do look like a bouncer. The test will be whether people still think I now I dont smoke.

So all bouncers in the UK wear trenchcoats, huh? I learn something new every day.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Dagman, great story. It must be nice to have the red carpet treatment in any case.

 

[backstept]

my brother has been mistaken for famous musicians before

 

[jamestyler]

When i used to work at Disney, we all had uniforms. Mine were navy blue pants and white polo shirt. The shirt had a Disney logo over the breast pocket, and i wore a name tag. And people would STILL ask me if i worked there ...

Sarcastic replies aplenty? I went to school with a girl who worked at Disney for a year and told me the same thing. And kept pointing out she wasn't American, as if she wasn't aware of the fact.

It happened to me a lot during winter. I used to smoke so I'd be standing outside smoking by the door and with my posture and black Dr Martens, I do look like a bouncer. The test will be whether people still think I now I dont smoke.

So all bouncers in the UK wear trenchcoats, huh? I learn something new every day.

Most I've seen and worked with wear 3/4 length black coats. It seems to be the personal/collective style more than a requirement in my area.