Within the Harry Potter universe, an invisibility cloak is used to make the wearer invisible. In my experience, it is not necessary to inherit a magical piece of clothing from your tragically murdered wizard father to become completely invisible; you just have to don a polo shirt and half-apron.

Something about wearing a uniform converts me from being a living, breathing human being into wallpaper. I can’t tell you how many times every day I will try to engage a customer, only to be met with not so much as a glance. As a gal-about-town, it is not uncommon for me to run into one of my regular customers while out shopping or socializing. Do you know that I have never been recognized out of uniform? People with whom I deal three times a week, and whose children I have watched grow for nearly two years, don’t even give the “Where do I know her from?” double-take.

The worst is the nightmare that our cell phone culture has visited upon checkout girls, everywhere. People, I am begging you, please set aside your personal conversation for the MAXIMUM of four minutes (if you have a very large order) that it takes to complete our transaction and have a real, honest to goodness interaction with someone who is right in front of you. Guess what? I am interesting. And intelligent. And funny. And real. Don’t miss out on meeting someone great or, at least, receiving excellent customer service, by standing right in front of me and speaking at an inappropriate volume into your phone.

Being invisible is not always bad, mind you, I frequently get away with things I shouldn’t be able to, specifically because people completely ignore me. I can give nasty looks to the people who deserve them. I can make snide, sarcastic comments within earshot of the person about whom I am snarking. I can go a day without lip gloss. I can even eavesdrop on a suspicious conversation being had by Severus Snape. Oh, wait.

I guess the moral of the story is this; if you don’t pick your head up and look around, you won’t know what you are missing, or who is rolling her eyes at you.