Do People Think You're Weird?

[rosierjay]

wow.

my experience has been dramatically positive. get stink eye a few times, but i usually smile and it makes them feel uncomfortable and go away. but i also get really bubbly when i'm excited. and has scared people for that before too.
ok, so.
anytime i find a blindbag box i always check every one.
sometimes i will get the eye, but most people ignore me.
a few times there have been little girl with their mom's looking in the aisle too.
i usually ask if they like ponies. and if there are any ones they are looking for.
i'm pretty good at picking them out, but only twice have people taken me up on my offer to find a particular pony for them.

my favorite though was while i was looking through the bags at a target, a lady walked by and said
"must be something special in those"
i told her i was looking for a specific one for myself and a few my niece was missing. (true by the way) after just generally chatting with her for a while, i found out she was trying to find a gift for one of her special ed students that was in the hospital. so i asked her a bunch of question about the little boy and we found him a gift. i was about to go back to my pony hunt, when she asked if i knew anything about little girl toys. and well golly i do. enough that even my niece is confused by it. so i helped her find a lps toy for a little girl who loves dogs. luckily they were on sale and she was able to get a few. i love this kind of thing. it really made my day that the lady let me help her find toys, and nice that she really appreciated all the knowledge i had about the toys. so a win win for both of us.

[elvenwine26]

I work at an antique mall and all of the vendors are so friendly and they follow you and are overly helpful. When people do that I make sure not to go back in there. Its just the scariest feeling to me, and I cannot explain why.

It's bad business if a retail worker doesn't make an attempt to be helpful.  If you ever find yourself working in like chain store retail, you'll see how the game is done.  If you don't ask people if they need help you could get written up for it. Mah charms, let me dazzle you with them so you'll buy more! haha It's a business model that can be politely turned down with a "no thank you, but I'll let you know if I have any questions".  Don't let it scare you away from places you might enjoy shopping at!

I never had any issues with buying ponies, honestly.  No one's ever asked.  It could be my shopping times or a vibe I give off without realizing it. But then again I'm the kind of person who likes to eye up people's groceries in the check out line and mentally and sometimes verbally guess what they plan to make so I wouldn't mind if they asked.

[Lorelei Redfern]

though thinking aobut it.. i thinkt hat my parents might get stranger looks   (if you met my  mom at he fair you know what i'm talking aobut)  my dads  in his  70s and my moms in  her 60s  and   bless there hearts  my mom  bugged  a ton of wall mart employes last year and called me at every wallmart htey went too trying to find hte posters and to see if i anted the blind bags.. and stuff liek that.  and then  she takes me black friday shoping. which was fun. and we find my little pony stuff.    but  my dad looks perputualy grumpy and just stnads there and watches.  i can only imgaine when it was the two of them alone looking.   i know when me an dmy mom  go  she always digs through clearance,

[beagleluva]

Hmm I really don't think I've ever gotten any sort of strange looks when buying ponies (I mean, I haven't really bought any as of late due to law school expenses haha).  I used to be kind of self concious about it but now I do it so rarely that when I AM getting ponies, I'm too happy about it to give a hoot what anyone around me thinks. The weirdest thing to happen to me buying ponies was when I left my ex alone in the aisle and another guy asked him if his sister (meaning me) was single.

[reanna-mator]

Multiple staff at my local TRU recognize me, but in a good way... haven't really had any problems yet. I felt a bit shy at first, but now it comes pretty natural. If someone else finds it odd for me to be shopping for ponies, that really isn't my problem. I am constantly nervous I'll get crap for looking at blind bag numbers, but so far I haven't even had that problem, even as small a place as Hot Topic.

[Sanadaookami]

They might but I never pay them any mind~ Life is to short to worry about some stranger you will likely never see again and certainly don't need to talk with judging what you shop for of all things :/

Most of my experiences have been positive though. I have met a lot of people that think its cool or just had no idea people collected MLP (I do have to say I see more recondition of it and acceptance with FiM being so popular) I have also had some people think its strange but I normally just point out that they likely see nothing odd about someone collecting comics, coins or video games. Once they have a bit more context they tend to change there mind on how strange it is.

[Corona]

I don't get weird looks, I usually have on my lanyard with my car keys which has pony keychains on it and sometimes I arrive in a pony shirt. It's pretty safe to assume I'm there for ponies.

The best reactions I get are from Starbucks employees in Targets actually! I've been asked for a few brohoofs.

[Sprinkles]

I work at an antique mall and all of the vendors are so friendly and they follow you and are overly helpful. When people do that I make sure not to go back in there. Its just the scariest feeling to me, and I cannot explain why.

It's bad business if a retail worker doesn't make an attempt to be helpful.  If you ever find yourself working in like chain store retail, you'll see how the game is done.  If you don't ask people if they need help you could get written up for it. Mah charms, let me dazzle you with them so you'll buy more! haha It's a business model that can be politely turned down with a "no thank you, but I'll let you know if I have any questions".  Don't let it scare you away from places you might enjoy shopping at!

I would like to second this. I work as a sales associate at Michael's and we're required to greet every customer we see in the store. We're also supposed to ask them if they need a basket if they do not have one and when they are checking out, we're supposed to ask if they found everything they were looking for. Customer service is our number one priority and we do get in trouble if we don't do what we're supposed to. Especially if someone complains about it or if we get bad results from surveys.

I'm weird when I go shopping. If someone is in the pony (or MH) aisle before I get there, I walk past it and pretend that I'm going somewhere else. Then I go back when they leave  But, if someone comes to the aisle while I'm there, I just continue my business and leave when I finish. I've had dozens of cashiers ask me if I need a gift receipt so I just smile and tell them no thank you. And I've gotten the stink eye on numerous occasions from employees while checking out. The only time I've ever had someone ask me about my purchase was at TRU when I was buying some MH dolls a few months ago and the cashier was honestly interested. That made my day I wish more people would be like that instead of constantly judging people

[moonflower]

I wish I had the confidence that most of you seem to have about pony shopping! If cashiers ever say anything I always say "oh yeah, it's my niece's birthday this weekend! I hope she doesn't already have these!" and I always make sure to get a gift receipt even if they don't say anything. Seriously my imaginary niece has a great life! It's her birthday almost every weekend and she always gets all the new pony stuff haha!

Haha, I have an imaginary niece too! (and two real ones, but they are too old to use as an excuse!) I've not had to say it yet, but I always have it ready in case someone asks. Some cashiers are so nosy imo.

I bought some ponies from Asda once and the old women on the till said "my granddaughter hates these!" o_O

Usually I don't take any no notice of strangers though, if they think it's weird that's their problem. My pony collecting is kept secret from most though so I am always wary about bumping into old friends/colleagues.

[rosierjay]

Usually I don't take any no notice of strangers though, if they think it's weird that's their problem. My pony collecting is kept secret from most though so I am always wary about bumping into old friends/colleagues.

everyone i know, knows i collect ponies and mh stuff.
it's pretty cool, when my co-workers have brought in mh/ pony stuff they find at garage sales and only ask for the price they paid.
got a tote of pony a friend pick up for 5$ that i'm suppose to get on sunday. super excited.

[Twilight Pink]

Nope. I am 17 years old. My mom playfully teases me about buying me ponies. I'd rather be a kid than an adult :/ so shopping for ponies and pony accessories doesn't bug me. Nor any Walmart/Target/TRU employees stare at me while I'm hunting for ponies, specifically blind bags since i've written the codes down in a little purse sized journal.

[Einhornbaby]

I get the stare almost everytime I buy or recieve any kind of pony. My parents called me mentally ill for that. Im a collector since 2004 and learned to live with people staring at me. Sometimes it hurts but most of the times it just does not bug me at all... What else to do in a society that thinks its ok for women to have 20+ purses or 50+ pairs of shoes which they wont ever need, but its ok to call people insane / weird or anything if they buy toys instead...

[prettypony55]

I haven't bought myself a pony... in years. But, I can totally relate to the whole bugging you while shopping. I really like bath and body works and Yankee candle. Most of the employees know me, and they have figured it out. I don't care if they say hi, or ask if I need help. That's fine. But, when they follow me and try to keep asking me questions I politely tell them I just want to shop and if i have a question i will find them and ask.  If they still wont leave me alone, I tell them sternly to leave me alone or i will leave.

It usually works, but i have had large purchase and handed them to the workers and left. Most employees know me by now and just say hi, and be on their way. I will leave, and make a big deal about it if they wont get off my back. If I'm out shopping all day and I have a lot of bags I do like it when they ask if they can help me. I give them my bags to hold onto.

I know what I want, if I need help I will ask. I have money, and i want to spend it. i don't need to know your promotions, I don't need your credit cards, I'm good. Thank you.

[Sky_Rocket_Sammie]

If I ever have gotten the stink eye, I've ignored it. Having worked in retail I understand having to ask customers questions. Being on the buying end I smile and be polite. While trying to go about shopping. Seriously, I know what I want, go away.

If asked I say either the ponies are for myself, for trading with an out of state friend. Or for my younger cousins.

[Shenanigans]

I'm not sure if I've ever gotten strange looks before, but I've had cashiers give me looks when I tell them the ponies are for me X Then they ask how old I am