Yesterday the Geekette and I were at a local mall. Among other stores, we stopped into this one store which sells what I would describe as "eclectic and new age clothing and other items." To give you an idea of what this store is like they sell beads and other jewelry, incense and holders, books on various different religions including buddhism and wicca, full-length cloaks (I actually own two cloaks made by the same outfit that this store buys from; they're cool to wear at sci-fi/fantasy fan conventions), and other stuff like that. Further specific examples are a t-shirt that says "Buddhaful" under a picture of Buddha holding hands with an Indian god (Ganesh, I think) on one side and Jesus on the other, and a shelf holding several binders containing back issues of High Times magazine. Needless to say, it's not the kind of store a conservative Christian would likely feel comfortable in.
We were there mainly because they have cool clothing and we ended up walking out of there with three velvet skirts for the Geekette as well as a calendar featuring the art of Michael Whelan who specializes in fantasy art. His works have graced the covers of countless fantasy novels. While we where there, a very interesting thing happened which just brought home the message that you really can't assume anything about anybody just by looking at them, or even where they work.
The young woman who was working there was, I'm guessing, somewhere in her twenties. She was slim with long, dark hair, and was wearing clothing of the type they sold there. She was quite attractive and the clothing suited her very well. I'm looking at something and she just up and asks me, "So, which was it for you, Bush or Kerry?"
I responded, "Do you really want to know the answer?" She said she did so I said, "I voted for the man who won the election."
My jaw just about hit the floor when she said, "I was for Bush, too." This was the very last thing I expected to hear from someone working in a store like that. After all, the wall behind one of the counters was full of stickers with slogans like, "Keep your laws off my body!" and "My other car is a broomstick." Basically the store comes across as a bastion of social liberalism. Not that that's a bad thing, since as a (small "l") libertarian, I agree with liberals on many social issues.
What ensued was a pleasantly surprising discussion of the political situation. She didn't like Kerry because he didn't seem to be for anything in particular. She also grasped that we really are at war and that Bush is pursuing the correct strategy, or at least more correct than anything offered by Kerry and the Democrats. Most of the discussion, at least on my end, was about why the terrorists hate us so much. I would have liked to continue but we needed to get going as we were having guests over for dinner. If I see her again in the future, I may give her my email address in case she wants to discuss it further.
But it just goes to show that, just because someone appears to be very liberal in terms of how they dress and where they work, it ain't necessarily so.
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