At the store where I work, there’s a guy about my age (30ish) who comes in pretty regular. He doesn’t always buy something, but often enough that you wouldn’t say he was loitering. He also seems to be mildly retarded. At any rate, he’s always cheerful, and always happy to see me. I don’t know how he is with the other female employees, but after today, I’m going to ask them.
This morning, I crossed paths with him, and he asked if I was going to be in on Halloween. When I said no (I see no harm in telling someone when I’m not going to be at work, though I wouldn’t tell any customer when I am going to be in), he said, “Then I’ll give you this now.”
It was a teeny tiny gift bag, with an even teenier bag of Jelly Bellys inside. They sell them in gift-wrap. They’re personalized, and this one had my name on it (my full name is on my tag. Which is a policy I’m not crazy about, BTW.) I thanked him cheerfully and brought it back to the register.
Today I was working with “Manny” and “Jack”. When I showed it to them, Jack was the one who noticed that there was a note inside. As follows:
"A Treat for the very Lovely woman that wears all those pretty skirts and dresses. the beautiful face that I enjoy seeing on my way to work.
have a great day [Rilchie]
your admirer, [blank]"
Jack: Well, it’s nice to be appreciated.
Me: Yeah, but it makes me feel a bit awkward. I mean, I just accepted it without thinking, but if I’d known he’d put a note in it and called himself my ‘admirer’, I might not have.
Manny: I’d call security.
Me: Good idea…No, I’ll take it to human resources. I’d rather show them than tell someone over the phone.
Jack: Jenny’s [manager] here right now; you can tell her.
Jenny: [after seeing the note] Well…has he ever done anything before that made you uncomfortable?
Me: No. But now I’m a bit nervous that he might think it’s…my move next or something.
Jenny: Well, maybe you should give it back. Is he still here?
Me: Dunno.
Manny: Waitaminut…it looks like he didn’t even pay for it. See, there’s no CRL [take too long to explain, but lack of one indicates that the item wasn’t paid for].
Jenny: Well, that’s not good. [To me] Just keep an eye on him, and if he does anything out of line, call security immediately.
So, I dunno. Much as I appreciate the gesture, the ‘admirer’ thing sets off a mild alarm. I don’t want to encourage him, but I don’t want to give it back either, because that will make it a bigger issue. Maybe I shouldn’t have accepted it in the first place…Damn.
Mr. Rilch says I should just keep my eyes peeled on the way to my car, and warn co-workers not to give out info about me. Which I’m fairly confident they wouldn’t do anyway; they weren’t born yesterday.
So what d’yall think?