...A Customer's Perception...

I've been working in retail for nearly five years now. Not glamorous or exciting work by any means but it pays the bills and gives me a consistent routine. I have to admit, though, there was an incident last year that still makes me uncomfortable even though no harm came of it. It started with one customer who had been coming into the store for a couple of months regularly. He seemed nice enough, polite but reserved, and he always bought things related to DDLG play, which made me curious because I didn't really know much about it myself back then.... I was nineteen at the time and still exploring my interests in kink and age-play, mostly through reading online and talking with others. But this guy seemed like a real player; he had all sorts of outfits for both sides of the dynamic. Anyway, one day we were chatting because I think he felt comfortable asking me about some items. As our conversation went on, it became clear that he knew more than just browsing for these things, he actually practiced them. This was before I'd really shared any of my own experiences with anyone at work.... It turned out the guy was probably in his late twenties and had been doing DDLG play for years. He mentioned a few scenarios that gave me butterflies, but also made me think he might be just trying to impress or get under my skin. What happened next is what I'm still not sure how to feel about. We finished up our conversation, and as he was leaving, he said something like 'Maybe we can play with it sometime.' I froze for a moment, trying to process what that meant. Of course, he didn't actually expect me to say yes there in the store... but hearing him suggest something like that made my head spin. ... So I just smiled politely and said goodbye, then pretended everything was normal when we spoke after that. But it did change how I felt about interacting with customers, especially those who seemed very knowledgeable or interested in topics outside of casual conversation.... I never ended up engaging more than superficially with him because honestly, I wasn't ready for something like that at work. And even now, thinking back on the incident makes me feel both intrigued and cautious. It's a reminder to always be aware of boundaries, mine included. ... It was just a momentary lapse in professional detachment that taught me an important lesson about being careful with my personal and private sides colliding too much at work....