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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

One-Hour Photo: Grandparent's Day

In a truly inspiring blog post published earlier this month, I mentioned that I used to work in the Rite Aid photo department. I was going to include some funny stories in that entry but realized they deserve their own entries. So here's one story. It's the story of my first experience developing n00dz....

So one day, this elderly lady comes in and drops off a roll of film.

Yeah, I gave that excuse a lot. "Changing chemicals" simply means that I was at a really interesting part in the book I was reading at the time. And on my list of priorities, reading comes before developing photos!

So I start developing the pictures and at first, I can't really tell what I was looking at.

Brown and blue blotches appear on a white, flappy material. After seeing a few of these prints I realize that I'm looking at bruises! And then I realize the bruises must be on an old person since the skin had lost its elasticity about a decade before the pictures were taken.

Then....

I get to a picture of the old bruised man, completely naked!! After pictures of his bruised arms, legs, and chest, someone took a full body shot and homeboy forgot to put on his drawers!

And this, my friends, was the exact moment in my life when I discovered that old people don't just get white hair on their heads, but everywhere.... X|

So the old lady comes back a couple of hours later and I give her the photos. But of course she doesn't just take them and bounce....

She then goes through the photos, pointing at the bruises and telling me about the car accident. And yes, she casually shows me the naked ones and doesn't seem to mind. It was sweet how concerned she was, but at the same time, she was showing me her husband's n00dz. I wonder if her hubby knew she was showing me the pictures. Maybe old people aren't ashamed of their naked bodies or something.

After she left I thought I'd never have to see naked old people again. However, you'd be surprised at how many such pics I got at Rite Aid. One memorable set was of an old couple painting their house in the buff. The weirdest part is when an old lady drops off a roll of film and you kind of assume what the pics are gonna be of (her grandchildren, bingo night, etc.) and then suddenly she and her hubby and painting their bedroom walls while letting it all hang out.

Maybe I got so many elderly n00dz cause the older generations don't know how to work digital cameras yet :P

16 comments:

Polt said...

Working at CVS we had to deal with photos too. We didn't develop them there, we had them sent out, but when they came back we had to log them in. And sometimes, we'd (illegally) look through the photos.

One roll was some guy in his aparetment totally naked except for a pair of rollerskates (not blades, skates). All 24 photos were of different poses and places. It was hiLARious. When he came to pick them up, I was so glad I wasn't working the register, cause I couldn't have waited on him witout laughing.

Oh, and there was one with a little girl standing next to a toilet smiling. And in the toilet was a little turd. We figured it was like the first time she atually went in a potty. yeah, just the photo you want people to see as they're persuing your photo albums. :)

HUGS...

Justin said...

LOL great post. I love the pix you use for yourself and for the customer.

As I pointed out via twitter to you already, though: if you keep living (which I earnestly hope will be the case), you're going to have many opportunities to see more "naked old people" when the time comes. If only in the mirror ;-)

You're a very good writer, btw. :)

dpaste said...

Wait, you mean the people who work at the Duane Reade have seen all the naked pictures I take!!!

Oh my God!

Mel said...

David: Was Betty White in them, too?

that's J-O-S-H said...

Please tell me that's who I tink it is in the bruised up picturaz...Rated-R Rihanna [feat. angry cover art]?

Garret said...

Thank you so much for elaborating on these great stories. I love how you make these photos (you look cute behind the counter) fun! Awesome! I'm looking forward to the next train wreck.

Michelle M. said...

You are so much cuter than Shia La Boef.

So did you like the paint color Harry and I picked out?

Shanique said...

Haha! I remember your lucky ass used to do nothing in that photo lab except read while the rest of us had to slave like the black-people-cotton-pickers on the floor.

And this is the same reason why(besides the lack of pay) that I didnt work in the photo lab. Because you have to look at nasty pictures. Yuck! I would die if I saw a white haired peen. So not cute!

Delisa said...

I know from experience that old people are desperate for conversation. It was just perfect timing and the current conversation topic. Besides, nudes are art lol

john said...

LOL! Lemon Party! Will you be featuring "goatsy"in a future post too? How about "tub girl"?

I thought it was illegal to develop noods in a store? I've never taken noods or worked in a photo lab, so I can't say why I thought that.

David: Not only have they seen them, they kept copies!

Eternal Lizdom said...

Love this post!! You're very clever and I needed a good laugh... but I didn't need the squicky images in my head of naked old people. *shaking head violently* Get out! Get out!

Tam said...

Funny. I love Betty White. I think people just pretend that the people who develop pictures are blind but really skilled. I wasn't even sure you could still buy real film anymore.

Chris D. said...

Yikes! That does sound pretty gross. I thought you were attracted to older guys? Is 70 too old for you? ;)

I like the new blog layout. Great job with it!

Michelle M. said...

I agree with Chris. The layout is great and is much easier to read.

Ryan said...

Pepaw Peepee?

Anonymous said...

That's almost as bad as me seeing old ladies for bikini laser hair removal, and trying to explain how it doesn't work on gray/white hair


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