"and you're working in a store?" (not to be confused with, "and you want to work in a bakery?"*)

last night, i was selling tiny cashmere baby onesies to the los angeles elite when someone walked in wearing a sweatshirt from the university i just graduated from.  as we are encouraged to make conversation with our customers, i mentioned that i'd just finished undergrad there, and the sweatshirted man's wife replied, "and you're working in a store?" (at which point i wanted to curl into a ball on the floor and cry and cry about how my life is going nowhere and how panicked i am about going nowhere fast).  instead, though, i was hilariously self-deprecating and blamed the economy for how terribly difficult it is to find employment and laughed and laughed - to keep from weeping, i suppose.  it was really horrifically depressing, and i lost my enthusiasm and spent the rest of my closing shift tidying racks of tutus and avoiding talking to anyone else who could judge me and parrot back to me all the very sad and negative things i've been saying to myself for several months.

*this is what a potential employer said to me at my interview for an $8/hour position as a cashier at a neighborhood bakery.  in my defense, i did not know it was $8/hour when i applied.  also, i never called her back.