Dude, you shoulda bought a....never mind

I have been paranoid lately. I had thought it was that I am getting 'clocked' wherever I go.

I've confided this to a close friend and she tells me that it wasn't the case. It is all in my head.

So what is it then?

I was in a computer store yesterday. I couldn't get help to save my life.

I know computers. I knew what I needed but I required some help to find it.

Sales people bustled around, helping the geeky gentlemen around me. Apparently, I was invisible.

Obviously, they didn't want to help out the freak, right?

(I almost got hit for saying that BTW)

She explained it to me slowly on an outside chance that it would sink in.

"A woman in a computer store is generally ignored. They don't think you know what you need. They see you as difficult. They see you as a problem."

What they want to do is geek out with like minded people, not deal with someone's Mom who will end up buying a Dell anyway (and probably should).

So basically what she told me that I was not being 'clocked', I was just getting a taste of what it is really like sometimes.

UPDATE: I went to one of the Mom & Pop Computer shops today (near one of the big Geek Employers of the area). They treated me respectfully and acknowledged that I actually knew something (and he carried the heavier parts out to the car for me).