Apparently I am a rather suspicious-looking individual when I have my ever-present camera with me. (Which is just about all the time, these days.) Wednesday was my wife’s 45th birthday, and we celebrated the occasion by doing some shopping at Mayfair Mall and eating a delicious meal at P.F. Chang’s. It was a shopping trip spent mostly in stores like Talbot’s, Coldwater Creek, and CJ Banks – in other words, FEMALE stores – so I decided to have my camera with me to help pass the time while Kathy was trying on potential purchases. (She actually hates to try on clothes, but I insisted- she was needing new outfits for two weddings this weekend, so we couldn’t afford any missteps or miscalculations.)
So I’m snapping pictures to my hearts content, especially of colorful things that I think might find a home on my “Colors” page. . . and Pottery Barn was where I really went nuts. (At last, a store that sold something besides flowery blouses and capri pants.) The visit got even more exciting when I realized that the female anchor for Channel 12 Morning News, Caroline Lyders, was shopping in Pottery Barn the same time we were. . . but as tempted as I was to snap a picture of her, I resisted the urge and contented myself with photographing things like colorful towels. (Whoopee!) Eventually, I made my way outside while Kathy waited for the clerks to find her something from downstairs. I’m continuing to snap pictures – and making a point of ignoring the Victoria’s Secrets store right across the hall in favor of the Oil and Vinegar salad dressing store right next to it.
Suddenly I hear from behind me the voice of an official-sounding guy saying (into a walkie talkie) ‘White male. . . middle aged. . . taking photographs in Pottery Barn.” And the next thing I know, a security guy is asking me (politely but firmly) why I’m taking photographs. Before I could sputter out a word or two about my website and my need to be doing something every second of the day, he said that Mayfair Mall has among its new security regulations a ban on taking photographs anywhere in the mall. (I’m suspecting that the Santa Claus Workshop thing in December is exempt.) For a brief moment I felt like asking him if this was America or Communist Bulgaria, but thought better of it – hit the delete button and eliminated all the pictures I’d taken – and hoped that this little incident wouldn’t come back to haunt me the next time I tried to get a pa ssport.
Except for that, it was a great day with Kathy- – – who wears 45 years just fine and who I am privileged to call my Wife. And I am hoping that she’s still glad to call me her husband, even after my brush with the Blacklist.