I had this experience just two days ago at my local Family Christian bookstore. Three of my buddies and I had gone over there to purchase the study we are going to start in our small group. After picking it up, we headed over to my favorite section, the musical area. I had my sights set on a specific disc, LA Symphony's Disappear Here, which I didn't locate until the second time around (Whoever had the bright idea to put it at the top right of the new release section but not in the hip hop section...not such a bright idea). Anyway, my friends were asking about discs from Relient K and Thousand Foot Krutch. I ended up reccomending TFK not because it is a better disc, but because it was more suited to my friend's tastes. So as this is happening, a clerk walks up and asks us what discs we are looking at. I mentioned these three discs and Terminal, a group that I have never heard anything from but that my one of the guys was enjoying. I don't know if this lady misheard or just felt like imposing on the conversation, but her response was, "To answer that, T-Bone's new disc just came out not too long ago. Also, Kirk Franklin's new one just came out too." Now, either way, it seemed like the lady was just trying to be polite and, though I knew the release dates and knew my friends and I wouldn't care for either disc, I thanked her for the information anyway.
So, after about 10 minutes of searching and listening, three of us went up with things to purchase. I went up to the register and was preparing to pay, when a woman of maybe 35 or 40 walked in and asked the clerk about some music. She basically said that her daughter was into hip hop music and she wanted to get her some good Christian stuff, but had no clue what to look at. Now, keep in mind three things: 1) I am at the counter, 2) I am holding the LA Symphony disc (A quality hip hop disc), and 3) I'm an opinionated guy who also likes to help the clueless in their musical adventures. So, without trying to impose too much, I flipped the disc over and pushed it toward this lady. As she looked at it, the clerk said to me, "You've got to be kidding," turned to the woman and said, "This is an area of expertise for me. I will be back there in one minute to help you. For now, go look for tobyMac's disc and give it a listen."
I was flabbergasted on several accounts. First, I was shocked at this clerks' rudeness. To just dismiss the views of someone you don't know is absolutely wrong It's not like I was telling her, "You have to buy this disc, it is the greatest ever," (And why would I? I had not listened to the disc yet, I did not know if it was good or not). I was simply showing her this disc and getting ready to say, "I've heard a lot of the stuff from these guys, and they are definitely worth a listen. They may fit your daughter's tastes quite well." But I was shot down by an overzealous clerk. Okay, I can get over it. But to have the audacity to call yourself an expert in the area and then reccomend tobyMac? You must be joking. Look, I am a Toby fan. No, I don't like all of his songs, but I like a good chunk of them, and there's no doubt that the man knows how to put on a live show. But he is not a hip hop artist. The only time that could ever be said of Toby is in the days of dc Talk's early years, with the self-titled debut and Nu Thang. His solo stuff is a mixture of a variety of styles, and there is a bit of hip hop thrown in, but he is far from a hip hop artist. This lady spouted his name out not only over the likes of LA Symph, but over other quality groups like Deepspace 5, Mars Ill and one of the most popular hip hop groups in the Christian realm, Grits. My fear is that this woman just picked up Toby's disc bought it, gave it to her daughter, and turned her off to Christian hip hop for a long while. My hope is that she remember the cover of LA Symph's disc, gave it and Toby's disc a listen and saw the difference and at least asked for some other material. It just saddens me to think of all the great music left on the shelves because of clerk's like this.