Of Books and Covers

The human mind is structured in such a way in which cognitive abilities of others are measured by an outward assessment of an individual, at one point in time, before a relationship is even established between the assessor and the one under the microscope. Such uni-directional perceptions lead to incorrect and inconclusive decisions which a re then translated into different forms of inter and inter-personal messages.

It is in this light that I had an encounter that radically changed the way I view people, and them me. At a rather prestigious shopping mall, I walked in, not looking sharp enough to be considered part of the store's clientele but simultaneously not dressed as a french peasant farmer in Les Mis... I went on to browse the aisles, checking prices and stock within the store (half the time i had my heart in my throat, for my pocket was in protest.)

You know, one of the most fascinating things is when you all of a sudden gain a second shadow as you peruse the aisles of an upmarket departmental store, with the faithful, rather "vigilant" security guard in tow. So, upon realisation of what was occurring, I decided to embark on a cat and mouse game with Mr Watchful (I had to give him a name.) The chase started in the jean aisle where i happily strolled and checked different prices and colours of denim wear, before moving on to the flannel shirts. My curiosity of how Mr Watchful would respond to my shopping habits, I took the game to the underwear section as I shopped on, and guess who was a few steps behind me? Mr. Watchful.

I proceeded to different areas of the shop, and to no surprise, right there, a few steps behind, was good ol' Watchful. I mean he was more present than the shop's sales assistants. Broke as I was, a part of me just wanted to buy something for the sake of it. I continued my rounds but was now getting annoyed because of the stereotypical profiling that was occurring, which did not seem to let up. I purposefully turned, looked at him, and he tried to look away as if he wasan't paying attention to me, and I moved on.

All of a sudden, Mr Watchful is in the company of a sales rep, who seemed to be agitated by my presence there. And as they whispered to each other, from the corner of my eye, I knew they felt my presence within the shop was no longer welcome. Annoyed, the sales rep, approaches me, with Watchful in tow, and asked what I wanted in the shop, highlighting the fact probably nothing would suit my fancy in this particular store, and I should try other "lower end" stores downstairs....

Then I opened my mouth....