Punk clerk

Headaches, headaches.

Would you believe it?  My camera stopped working yesterday!!!  With blood pounding in my head I got out the box that it had been shipped in and checked the warranty.

Expired April 2.  GRRRRRRR!!

I grabbed box and camera and went to my local camera shop with all sorts of scenerios in my head.

In a slightly deranged state I was ready to accost the store manager when a young female clerk got to me first.

"May I help you?"

"Yes.  I want to speak with someone who KNOWS cameras."  I looked meaningfully towards the store manager.

"Yes... Well, I can help you."

Hah!  This GIRL had white and purple punk hair.  She was wearing vibrant green color contact lenses.  She had huge Hello Kitty glasses on with no lenses.  Her fingernails were an inch long and sparkly black.  This punk clerk knows cameras?

I explained my camera issue and the girl very deftly manipulated the camera and considered what the problem might be.  She jiggled and cleaned and blew at different parts of my camera and finally determined that the lens was malfunctioning...  Maybe (oh, I hope!) not the camera.  She gave me information on getting an estimate for repairs, or buying a new lens, or replacing the whole kit and kaboodle (NO!!!)  The punk clerk was polite and knowledgeable and very helpful. 

I'm not pleased that I've had to send off my camera lens for an estimate nor that it costs to have it estimated nor that the repair fee will run half the price of the whole camera outfit.  But what else can I do?

"When you send that lens to the Olympus company make sure they know that the customer (ME!) is extremely dissatisfied with a lens that only lasted a year plus...  I am NOT happy!"

But I was a little embarrassed at my previous assumption that this punk girl might not know her cameras.

"A apologize for my earlier attitude and assuming that you might not know about cameras."

"Oh... well... though my appearance may be outlandish I happen to be the assistant manager of the store."
 
A lesson on not making snap judgements for me...

And now I am without my main camera lens for a few weeks.  Hopefully I can still photo with the telescopic lens and a close-up lens that I have...

Obviously my cell phone camera is not up to my Olympus standards...