I work four hour shifts. The nerds wander in to get their Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and oh-god-yes, Magic the Gathering fix. Most of them are adults (at least in the sense they are over 18 and will be prosecuted as such)
Today a nerd came in to look at our Yu-Gi-Oh cards, which of the many cards available is least popular and mostly fueled by grown adults. He was definitely an adult. He looked and found some cards he wanted to add to his collection and while I was ringing him up there was a bit of that awkward brand of silence.
I usually have a beard in various stages of beardiness. It is getting fluffy but no where near what one would call "epic." The customer also had a beard.
"I like your beard," he said.
I checked our little credit card terminal. It was receiving. If his account had the funds he and his approval would be on their way.
"What this old thing?," I said but I had no opinion on his facial hair.
"I wish my mom would let me grow mine out like that."
I glanced up. I had made a bit of a funny and I thought maybe he was too. His face, though, was very serious.
"Yeah, my mom's cooler than yours I guess," was all I could come up with since I imagined laughing outright in a customer's face would be frowned upon and kicking them out of the store and back to mom's basement for being a walking, talking stereotype was not an option.
