Thursday, November 20, 2008

Randomonium

I went to the 7-Eleven this morning, bought a few items. And the total price was $7.11. That tickled me.

In a lifetime of buying stuff at 7-Elevens, I never before spent exactly $7.11. Surely it would’ve stuck in my mind if I had.

I wanted to make a cute comment, so I sized up the cashier to see if I should. Maybe it would just embarrass us both.

Then I saw his name tag. “Biplob.” That’s the dude’s name. So then I became obsessed with that. Biplob?

Figured I’d best keep my mouth shut altogether.

But Biplob is now at the top of my list of strange immigrant names encountered while shopping. Previous champion: “Polycarp.”

Polycarp was an African guy. A cute white chick ahead of me in line actually flirted with him over his name. He said it was not an unusual name where he came from.

My heathen ass... I just found out Polycarp was a Christian martyr.

17 comments:

bklyn6 said...

Then I saw his name tag.

Tricked out?

My heathen ass... I just found out Polycarp was a Christian martyr.

Heathens in the house. I had no clue either. :p

sakredkow said...

You see, that's the kind of post I understand perfectly.
Keep up the good work.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Random is the new black.

Kellybelle said...

I like Polycarp. His name was the easiest to remember of the church fathers in 7th grade religion class--I just pictured a praying parrot.

What'd you buy? Besides vitamin water.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Red Bull and a beef-and-potato burrito. Breakfast of champions!

LISA VAZQUEZ said...

Hello there,

That is so hilarious!

Ewww...you eat those microwaveable burritos that are in the fridge next to the deli sandwiches?

Of course, how would I know they are THERE if I had not noticed them? *LOL*

I'll take the polish on the grill...with two mozarella sticks...put it in the microwave for 20 seconds....mmmmmmm!

(smiles)
Lisa

Undercover Black Man said...

Ewww...you eat those microwaveable burritos that are in the fridge next to the deli sandwiches?

And they are horrible, Lisa. But for some reason, when I get down to hardcore writing, I eat garbage.

Unknown said...

I would LOVE to hear more about your hard core writing hard core food indulgences....

I feast like a viking while I write too, but my stuff never comes out as good as yours.

Anonymous said...

I too get tickled when the bill totals some thing funny like $1.23 or exactly $10. No matter how hard you try, you can never do that on purpose, but $7.11 takes the cake.

Boy, I must have slept through Polycarp in religion class. My favorite immigrant name has always been Iqbal. Sounds like something coming out of a pea shooter.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ I too get tickled when the bill totals some thing funny like $1.23 or exactly $10.

If we were our parents, we'd be like: "I gotta play that number."

bklyn6 said...

^Word.

Anonymous said...

I worked in a 7-11 for a while while at university. I rang that total up a couple of times, and never failed to point it out to the customer, because in Australia cash transactions are rounded to the nearest 5 cents, so it was rare and not obvious to them. Only people filling up their car with =< $7.11 worth of fuel could possibly get it, as everything else was priced to end with a 5 or 0 for obvious reasons. Being bored to death selling cigarettes and fossil fuels at inflated prices, it's the little distractions that keep you from killing yourself.

Invisible Woman said...

That happened to me too once at the 7-11, UBM--I mentioned it to the cahier and he smiled politely; I'm sure he couldn't have cared less, haha!

My first thought on reading your post was "did he play the numbers in the lottery?". I guess you didn't :-)

Anonymous said...

LOL! My dad still asks me about my dreams so he can play the number!

Thembi Ford said...

David, you truly tickle me.

The other day I was at a bagel shop. Whitefish salad on a toasted everything bagel and a coffee came to 6.66. I was bugged out until I realized that 666 probably isn't an evil number in Judaism, although Id have to research it I'm pretty sure it was meaningless in the realm of Jewish food.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm a heathen, too. We're all going to be on the express train to hell.

Undercover Black Man said...

That happened to me too once at the 7-11, UBM--I mentioned it to the cahier and he smiled politely; I'm sure he couldn't have cared less, haha!

Yep, IW... that's why I hesitated. From his point of view, it probably happens once a week.