(PICTURE: Some literature on new surveillance products.)The other day Huyen and I stopped by the Hanoi Expo Center to visit her friend who was working at a booth. The exposition was on new surveillance equipment and business security devices. It was actually a really cool exhibit with tons of high tech devices. I kept thinking how my friend Sam Friedlander who always buys crap from Sky Mall Magazine on airplanes, would have sold his truck to buy some of the cooler gadgets there.
I thought Huyen and I were just going to lunch during her lunch hour so I was wearing jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. I hadn't showered yet and frankly looked like crap. When we got to the Expo center we met her friend who was wearing a suit and tie with his credentials around his neck. He gave us each a pass for the exposition and we began to walk around. Huyen and her friend both looked like working professionals and I looked like a guy who was just outside raking leaves. Despite that, every person from every booth ignored Huyen and her friend and came right up to me to demonstrate their new products. I tried to tell them I wasn't in the market for $100,000+ surveillance equipment but they didn't get it. I wanted to give the brochures back to the people but Huyen told me it would be rude. So, I've now got a bunch of new toilet reading.
All that said, maybe I should buy a home security system. I mean I was robbed by ninjas once already.
