I've Studied Your Music...

Yesterday evening at work a couple came through my line. A man and woman, the guy was sorta tall and the lady was shorter than both him and me. They were pleasant and conversational which was nice, considering the 100+ degree weather we've been having doesn't lend to politeness. I wish I could say that I knew immediately, and maybe part of me did. At work I'm the center of my own universe. As long as I'm amused and happy, things move along swimmingly. It's not that I don't enjoy my customers or conversing with them. I really enjoy that aspect of my job. It's just that I come first. I figure if I'm in a good mood maybe it'll rub off on those I deal with. Let them live vicariously through me or some such. Anyway, I think I realized rather quickly that I was not the center of this particular group of people. Neither of them was being dramatic or loud or showy. But the man, he had a presence that subtly radiated. It was as if he was very accustomed to being central in things. A resignation to his place in things, almost. I can't say I remember our conversation at all, other than that it was nice and tinged with humor. Nothing remotely important was said, no personal references were made. It was just three people, an employee and two customers on a hot Saturday night, b.s.-ing till the bill was paid. I liked his shirt quite a bit, in fact I think I may have rung him up before, based on his shirt. I've rung someone else with that same shirt up before at least. It's an awesome shirt. They took off with their goods, I made one last quip and then reflected on the name on the receipt. I had other customers in line and I didn't have time to really ponder or process. A minute or two later, no one else in line, I realized that the nice man had been Peter Buck. Yeah, that Peter Buck. And I think I probably smiled the rest of the night. I have a million good memories of listening to REM. I have turned countless people onto Tuatara. So it was nice to have a musical figure I respect turn out to be normal people, who buys ice on a hot evening and has pleasant pointless conversations with the clerk at the store.