Dia dhuit!

Whenever I’m traveling with my family I try to find a local record store, preferably a mom and pop establishment, and I’ll drop in and see what they have. I’m not a serous collector by any means, I don’t care what pressing it is, I simply want to reclaim a physical copy of albums I used to own on cassette or compact disc. My collection is small, but growing.

While in North Carolina recently, I stopped by one shop in particular that I won’t completely put on blast by naming. There wasn’t much of metal section and many of the records in that section were bands I wasn’t familiar with, but they did have a copy of Reign In Blood, not necessarily a hard to find record, but one I don’t own yet. I only have Show No Mercy and Seasons In The Abyss so far.

Almost a decade ago when moving from one apartment in Queens to another, only this time with a set of twins in tow, I got rid of all my Cds instead of offloading it for pennies. I needed more room for them and less for me. It was an insult what I was offered my collection, and I’m a spiteful man so in the trash they went, aside from a small number resting in a box inside my closet. Anyway.

I opted out of purchasing Slayer’s third studio album, after overhearing an employee and his friend wanking each other off about their contributions to their scene. I listened to the employee while I perused the rather small metal section. He said things like, “I don’t like metal what am I 12? Guffaw,” and “When I don’t want to talk to customers I tell them I’m afraid of metal.” Don’t misunderstand me, of course, you know that upon entering a record store you immediately run the risk of exposing yourself to some kind of pretentious douchebaggery. And if you listened to any number of conversations on any given topic I have with my friends I might sound like an asshole too. But these dudes were fucking cringe heavy.

These comments, I don’t believe, were directed at me but just the level of corny, the heir of superiority was enough to make me put the record back on the shelf and want spend my money elsewhere. This narrow-minded way of thinking transcends beyond musical genres, it is merely another example of a human finding a way to elevate himself over another, it can be wealth, race, religion, the town you’re from, the car you drive, the stupid things you wear on your feet, it can be anything. Someone will always find a way to think that they’re in some way better, that their opinion holds more weight, and those assholes never realize that they are the assholes.

This is why people prefer to order shit online, it eliminates asshole interactions.

Moral of the story, don’t be an asshole.

Good day, sir.