Pet Peeves of a Tarot Reader Part Three
The Chatters
I can't charge them by the minute. I can't be rude and tell them to leave. But every so often someone will tell me their life story after doing a reading for them. And they don't even tip me.
Nothing truly memorable there but I just wanted to mention it.
So you see, they're everywhere. No matter what you do to earn just a little extra cash, you will attract stupid customers.
Annoying Kids.
I love kids. Don't get me wrong. But I make it really clear to teenagers that I can't do readings for them unless they're 18 or over, or have an adult guardian present who can give them permission. It's a no brainer, I don't want to get sued or charged with anything.
For the most part the kids who I've read for have been very polite and very attentive. Some of them just ask me what I'm doing and I explain it to them as simply as I can. But like with all areas related to any kind of customer service there are the really annoying ones. Some go a little beyond annoying.
These two boys approach me. They could have easily been 18 at least. I don't check ID's, I just ask their age to cover myself. It's not something I'm required to do and I'm in a public area where no one can accuse me of anything, but again, I like to protect myself just in case.
Boy 1
Boy 2
Me-the man suffering for his craft.
B1 sits in thie chair and B2 sits on his lap.
B1: We're lovers. Can you do a reading for us.
It was obvious they were fooling around with me and when I suddenly found myself surrounded by a dozen or so kids I realized this was some day camp trip. I politely asked them to leave.
Labor Day, after work, I thought I'd see if I could make a little extra cash. I was set up near a resturaunt with out door seating. This little kid, about four years old was playing on the rock near my table and periodically running back to the seating area where his parents were. Then he walks over to my table and sits down.
Kid
Me
Kid: do you want to play flapjack.
Me: (shuffling the cards) Uh..not right now.
Kid: You're holding the cards wrong. You have to hold them like this.
He takes two of my cards and shows me how to hold them for playing. I just give a kind of half smile as I'm keeping an eye out for Chris Hansen's film crew)
Me: (Gently taking the cards from him) Wow, is that how you do it? I've learned something new. Cool.
This goes on for a bit. He runs back to his parents, comes back, shows me his cars, etc. All in all there was nothing harmful in the whole transaction and I think some passerby even thought it was cute. But finally I decided to pack up and leave for the evening before I wound up on an episode of Dateline. The lesson here endeth, I'm not a babysitter people. And on this street I'd be just a little more careful with who you allow your child to run up to.