Of being God's child

No, no this is not a holy-moly post, rather a recollection of what happened years ago, when I was on my first temp. job. I had never ever worked during the school holidays, unlike my enterprising younger sister, so I was rather excited about getting a job during my first semester break at uni. The brat was starting pre-u or Form 6 then and was leaving her job as a cashier for Salvation, a Christian chain of bookstores. Twas perfect timing, they replaced her with a prettier, more intelligent person - Me!

After 2 weeks of training they sent me off to the little branch in Subang Parade where I was responsible for opening and closing the store, replenishing stocks, a little cleaning and of course selling books, cd's and dvd's, cards and little gifts. I'd start of my day popping in the latest cd and vacuum the little bits of carpeting that were visible (hehehe) and if I was in the mood, wipe down the counter as well. Meanwhile the cleaning lady would wipe the glass walls and I'd open the store for business. Weekdays were usually quiet, but weekends I'd be busy, looking up and recommending titles of books or music, testing the cd's and dvd's, and ringing up sales. It was just me so it could get quite hectic but most days I'd just sit and read the whole day long till closing time.
Anyway, back to what I wanted to write about, the terribly funny and odd people I met because of my job. One of the first incidents was with a couple of African guys who came in on the pretext of buying Christian music. Innocent ol' me (hey I was innocent once upon a time) showed them a few until it dawned on me that they seemed to be more interested in asking questions about Sister, as they called me, rather than the music. I slowly retreated from the cd shelves into my little counter and turned serious. The persistent chaps continued and one finally came out directly and asked for my number. I said no, I came from a very strict family you see and wasn't allowed to receive calls from boys (the same family in which my dad recruits my guy friends into changing our lightbulbs :-p) and that no, I didn't have a mobile phone (which I had left right under the counter and as I prayed for them to leave me alone, I prayed even harder for my phone not to ring just then!)

A scarier incident was this decent looking guy who came in looking for books on casting out spirits and combating demons. This should have set off warning bells but I actually didn't find it strange. In fact when I first started working there, I devoured the entire section on the occult first before moving on to other books. So feeling quite pleased with myself, I led him to the corner, proceeded to impress him with my knowledge of books and authors, and then left him to his own devices. After awhile he back to the counter and said he couldn't find what he needed. He wanted a book on dealing with voices in his head, because you see, these voices made him do things and told him things about God and the church and the pastors he's spoken to have told him to get lost because they won't see the error of their ways and... you can make up the rest. He was becoming slightly agitated and I got a little nervous. Finally I stopped him mid-rant and asked him to go check the spiritual section in the MPH, one floor below and surprisingly he obeyed and left.

Another time, this lady came in to browse and let loose a little devil disguised as a short person in pigtails in the store. Momma didn't care that her darling daughter was wreaking havoc of course, or at least pretended she didn't see her little angel handling the books and cd's roughly, misplacing them, picking and throwing things and banging on any surface she could find. Finally she came near me and shouted, "Aunty, why do you have metal in your mouth?" I wanted to reply that I am not your aunty and would never be even under the threat of death but I decided to take charge of the situation. "Oh, its because of all the metal I eat," I replied. Her eyes became rounder and rounder, as I explained that I had eaten most of the metal in the store (thank goodness there were hardly any silver fittings) and that I was still hungry for more metal. Then I leaned down to her to whisper (for effect and to avoid mummy dearest from eavesdropping), "Do you have any metal with you?" all the while smiling and looking longingly at the doll she was carrying. And she ran all the way to her mummy's side and stayed there until they left the store.

The highlight still was when a bunch of exuberant newly enrolled bible college students came to get their books. I Had been making a signboard using gold dust when they entered, so I put it away and wiped my fingers on a wet towel and proceeded to help them pick out and place orders for their books etc. Half an hour and a few sing-a-long's to the music playing later I was thankfully ringing up the amount. One of the more exuberant of the exuberant students had her head propped up by her hands and elbows on the counter, gazing at me. All of a sudden she had my face in her hands! I think the shock and horror must have registered on my expression since she quickly let go but my reaction did nothing to calm her down. "Look, look at her face, there's something shining on her forehead!" she told her friends. I tried to explain but only managed 'Oh its only gold dust,' when she interrupted me saying,"But you don't sell gold dust here, there's none anywhere in the store," making a big show of looking around the place. The she looked at me straight in the eyes and said knowingly, "You are blessed child of God".
My lived-legna battle was intense but short. I decided not to correct them. Instead I thanked them and tried to look awed. I also managed to keep a straight face till they left. Yes I had fun at their expense but I also gave them the best story to tell in all of their class. I could have done worse you know...