A young man stands frozen with apprehension between the Hip-Hop/R&B and Jazz sections of Record Theatre in University Plaza. Sweat tickles the underside of his arm as he glances to the crew of clerks behind the counter.
Aaron Szczepasnki, a well-groomed-to-appear-poorly-groomed junior English major, is fearful to decide what to bring to the register.
"These people don't know me. All they're going to know about me is my taste in music," Szczepasnki says aloud, but quietly.
Like many UB students, Szczepasnki faces the common problem of figuring out what actually is "good" music in the eyes of aficionados who work at local record shops.
Quickly, Szczepasnki tries to pull from his mind the name of an obscure, emerging artist that he can use to wow the Theatre clerks. Sadly, he cannot think of any. Meanwhile, he can feel the beady eyes of the cashiers peer from behind their thick-frame glasses and drill a hole into the back of his neck.
"How long have I been staring at this pile of 50 Cent albums?" he wondered. "What did I even come in here for?"
He heads towards the local jazz section, only to realize that he barely recognizes any of the artists. So much for his dreams of being a hip cat with the buzz on the locals.
"Don't risk it Aaron," he thinks to himself as he thumbs confidently through the D section, "You don't want to buy an old fart album by accident just because the cover looked good."
He walks to the New Releases section and notices that Beck's "Guero" is out. He fondles the shrink-wrapped Special Edition CD/DVD booklet, entranced by the virginal whiteness of the cover. He lost his copy of "Odelay" a while ago; maybe he should buy another one of those while he's at it. No, they would just think he was a poser trying to get into mid-nineties music that he missed at the time of its release because he was too busy listening to Smash Mouth or something.
Besides, they don't have any cheaper copies in the used section anyway. Maybe he should explain the situation to the cashier if he buys it, he thinks. He has a book of coupons with him, which should at least indicate that he's a frequent Record Theatre shopper.
Maybe he should just download "Odelay" and skip all this social awkwardness. No, he has only fifteen percent of his hard disk free on his computer at home and Microsoft Word shuts down every time he tries to save something. Maybe he should have never left his room and just cleaned out his hard drive, he thinks.
He moves towards the used record section instead. There is the comforting smell of old paper and vinyl, and he realizes that perhaps it's not too late to get lost in one of the corners. He makes a point of avoiding the Barbara Streisand record glaring from the front row.
They also have new releases at full price on vinyl, but who is he kidding - those are only for DJ's. He's not a DJ. Yeah, he thought he was really cool when he fixed up his dad's old turntable in the basement and happened to discover the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," but sadly there are large holes in his knowledge of the history of rock n' roll.
He notices that they have a copy of Led Zeppelin's "Zoso" for three bucks. But no, that's what teenybopper rock star wannabes shop for because they only know the big names. Then again, he didn't even get into The Velvet Underground until a few months ago.
"Jesus, Aaron, what have you been doing all these years?" he says to himself, running his hand through his unkempt hair in frustration.
Maybe he should buy an old Wu-Tang album for the irony. It would be an amusing contrast to his overprivileged, white bread look, and show his diverse taste when he pairs it with the new Beck album. The cost is now up to three hours worth of work at his crummy minimum-wage job.
One of the two pretentious-looking guys who were at the counter before has left to organize books in the back, and has now been replaced with a frighteningly attractive female.
Upon closer inspection, Aaron remembers her from a while ago, actually. He bought Tool's "Lateralus" on the day of its release and she cashed him out. They talked about how it compared to "Aenima" and she laughed at one of his jokes.
Yeah, he scored that day. Sort of. But that was a long time ago. He hasn't had too much luck with any girls lately. It probably has to do with his taste in music.
Regardless, he decides to put fear aside and marches bravely to the front counter. The pretentious-looking male gets to him first.
"Hey dude, 'sup," says the clerk, taking the booklet and album. He keeps a cool countenance, and it's hard to tell whether he disapproves of the situation or not. Then again, this might have been the guy who was once praising Yanni.
Yeah, it is the same guy.
The girl finally turns around, and Aaron is relieved to see that she recognizes him.
"Hey, how are ...?" she says to him. She is beaming until she sees his choice of purchase. "Ew, Beck?"
