Or actually in the aisles and at the registers.
Myself: Male, Caucasion, mid-40s, athletic, married with children
I decided to give SteveO’s ICM 0.25.1.b mix a whirl. Now the test run wasn’t completely accurate as I did the test in the afternoon after I had dosed myself with MX172 (alcohol based spray version of A314) and MX237 (neroli scented version of regular Ammo).
8:00 AM dose: 4 sprays MX172 and 2 spray MX237 from 30 ml bottles. At work I am trying to accomplish something VERY unusual - may in fact well be a first - and the manner in which I have to do it runs against “normal procedures”. But people are VERY helpful and even encouraging and no one seems to care we are breaking “normal procedures” every step of the way. Gotta love people willing to think outside the box in order to get something necessary done. Gotta love the pheromones that help grease that process.
2:00 PM: I have gotten more accomplished than expected and pretty much all I can in one day and have run into NO obstacles or even speed bumps. Time to give ICM 0.25.1.b a go outside work. I do not wash my earlier application points - which I know will skew the results as there will now be traces of 'none under a mix that carries no 'none. Oh well.
I apply 4 sprays from a To Go bottle: 2x to neck, 1x back of head, and 1x back of hands. (Same areas of AM application.) I then go out to do some chores at several locations to check results.
First stop: a store I visit maybe once a month for the last several years. The ladies who work there are pleasant and recognize me. They usually let ne browse in peace and only show me something if I ask questions. The younger lady (mid to late 40s) is up front , the older lady is somewhere in the back. I purposely pick one thing, take it to the register, talk a bit, go look for something else, bring it up, talk a bit in order to let her get a good whiff. It works - she starts going out of her way - for the first time in YEARS - to show me things on sale she knows I would be interested in from past shopping. At one point I pick something off the wall that is on sale and she insists on going to the back to find one still in a box for me. At the register she is literally singing the MUZAK song to me, looking me in the eyes as she is ringing my purchases up. Never saw or heard her do anything like that before.
Second stop: another store. No contact.
Third stop: another store where I needed something. I am helped by a young black girl (17-20 yrs old). At first I am greeted by sleepiness, indifference and bored questions. However, I shape the encounter so that she cannot just direct me to what I need but she has to actually wait on me. By the end of 10 minutes she has sprung to life. She is alert, eyes sparkling, and darned if she too isn’t singing their MUZAK song to me as she is ringing my stuff up at the register.
Fourth stop: another store. Male manager and female assistant. He tales the lead in assisting me as I ask an intelligent question about a relatively high $$ item so not much there. Of course what I want is out of stock during a store-wide 30% off sale. No rainchecks. #$^@&%#$^@&%.
Final stop: SteveO’s favorite place - Starbucks. Place is crowded with mostly students studying, reading, cruising the internet on their computers. I find an empty table between two girls who are studing for a test and a pair of slightly older women (late 20s) just chatting. I am eyed suspiciously at first - as I am a suspicious looking character - lol. I am armed with something to drink and some magazine I just grabbed off the shelf to have something to pretend to be absorbed in as I really just try to guage any reactions to SteveO’s brew.
First the two college girls: They are facing each other across the table asking each other questions. So one has her back to me and the other is facing me. At first the questions are very cut and dry. But as time goes on I start getting a lot of eye contact from the girl facing me. She will basically look at me as she asks her friend the study questions. Plus after 10-15 minutes she seems to act as if she is qualifying herself: she starts showing how smart (and what a good friend she is) by explaining things to her friend (who seems to know the material just fine) and talking her through the answers.
The two slightly older women are at a table right beside me. After a while I start getting smiles from the one who is sorta facing me. Then it gets interesting. Their conversation gets a little louder so I can clearly hear what they are talking about. Every now and then the lady facing me turns to me and smiles as she says something. At a certain point they say something funny and I laugh out loud and look at them and smile in agreement but do not say anything. Once I do that, although they never speak to me directly, they try to include me in the conversation and get me to actively speak and interact with them. They turn their bodies at a slight angle so that we now form a triangle instead of them keeping their bodies facing each other in a closed loop and they constantly look at me the way you do when you want a someone to respond.
I do say one or two things but I am not going to try to actively get involved here. As always, I have Mrs. BH and the family at the top of my considerations. Now mind you I have not been trying to hide the big ring Mrs. BH gave me. (When Mrs. BH picked it out I commented on how big and flashy it seemed compared to most mens’ simple bands and how you could probably see it a mile away. Her response was “Exactly”. I thought the female clerk waiting on us would choke to death trying not to laugh.) In fact at one point I very purposely spun the ring around on my finger once or twice. Did not seem to matter. The two older women just kept on trying to engage.
After a while I finish my drink and leave. The two ladies were probably thinking “What gives? We all but beg the guy to talk to us and he won’t. What more could we do? Men … etc. etc.” Sorry ladies.
SteveO: What gives with the singing?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.