Deluxe retail treatment

After having dinner with Ally, Paul and little Nate, I walked around Great World City and was inevitably sucked into the Black Hole which I call That CD Shop (because I can never seem to leave, and all my money seems to be going into one).
A sharp-eyed sales assistant spotted me and hijacked my aural attention with some recommendations. After listening to a few good mixes, I decided that buying one or two compilations would be fine.
I listened to a few more CDs on the big speakers.
Then I thought, well, actually three or even four albums would be fine. That would be it. Finito.
Then again there was that new Bebel Gilberto album I was planning to get. Surely it wouldn’t count in my quota of four albums, would it?
Oh, and there were even more new compilations I had to listen to. French, Italian, Latin and Punjabi sounds were all calling out to me! The assistant listened to my critiques of each track, and fine-tuned her choice of music for me, so the music just got better and better!
Since it was nearing 11pm I was getting drowsy.
They solved that problem by grinding some beans and making me some decent coffee. They like to do that sometimes.
So after much cajoling and pampering I purchased El Latino, Saint Germaine’s Cafe, G Lounge Milano, Latino Beats, and bargrooves al fresco. As well as Bebel’s album. I am so glad I’m earning money again, because a good part of it seems to be sucked into That CD Shop (and Apple Centres).
In my defense I did throw back three more imported CDs which I felt were good but beyond my budget.
I got home and to my chagrin, found that most of the CDs were fingerprinted or slightly scratched. I am going back to the shop tomorrow to see if I can exchange them for unopened copies – they’ve done it for me before without asking questions.
Oh no. That means I might end up buying more CDS from them. What a sneaky thing to do! 😮
[Update: Good service prevailed, folks. They changed my CDs and I got to inspect each one of them. However I found that some of the CDs in fancier packaging, especially those with lots of paper sheets and booklets inside, were slightly ‘dusty’ – presumably from the folded edges. Also, be careful when opening CDs that have been tested before – sometimes they fall out of the casing when you re-open them, and get scratched. Something to note.
Of course, while I was there, the sales assistant who served me last evening recognised me.
“Oh, hi!! Ready to try some new CDs?” she chirped.
“Noooo-ooo!” I hollered, cringing at the cashier counter, my voice drowned out by thumping music.
They are truly very persistent.]