Records

  Whenever I went to a town, I looked for a record store.  I loved shopping for records.  You never know what you might find that might be underpriced and rare.  Unfortunately, there were folks in some stores that felt they could overprice records, even if they weren't rare.  Stores in Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte were usually overpriced, but sometimes you could find a bargain.  I liked to go to smaller towns to find the real bargains.  When I was working at record conventions, it was important for me to cut the price of my records by a couple of dollars, so I would sell them.  You could price something top dollar for what it was worth, but you would probably never sell them.

 There were two stores in Charlotte that I liked to go to.  One specialized in cd's, and the other one had lots of records and memorabilia.  Just like in adult bookstores, it was important not to make eye contact with other customers.  There was really no need to share any expertise you might have in whether or not an item might be a good deal or not.  

 One day, I was in the store that had a lot of cd's.  I was wearing my Rolling Stones concert t-shirt that my brother had bought for me in 1988, when he went to their show in Clemson.  I liked the shirt.  A guy came up to me in the store and asked me if I liked the Stones.  Well, of course I did.  Why else would I be wearing that shirt?  I replied that I did.  He said he liked the Stones, too.  That was nice.  He then asked me if I wanted to come back to his place to listen to his music.  I politely said no, but I was also realizing that this guy was trying to pick me up.  I have nothing against gay people, but I don't go that way.  I decided it was time to leave the store without buying anything.  I never wore that shirt again, when I went to Charlotte.