The Hard Sell Cowboy Museum

Sedona is a beautiful place.
Red rocks towering all around the town,
visible everywhere you go.

These majestic formations
have served as backdrop for countless Westerns.

After our relaxing Mexican dinner,
we walked around town,
and headed for the free Cowboy Museum.
I was looking forward to learning more
about the movies filmed in the area.

Instead, I was ready to chew red rocks
by the time we left.

The man behind the counter seemed friendly at first,
engaging us in conversation about our visit.

Then he gradually shifted from light conversation
to full tilt interview.
"What sort of work do you do?"
"Do you own a time share?"
"Why don't you own a time share?"
"Are you girls married? You here with your husbands?"

There was a lot more to it, but you get the general drift.
It seems it wasn't so much about the cowboy movies,
as it was selling the time shares.

I don't know how much of it was sales,
and how much of it was cultural.
I was raised to understand you didn't press people
for personal information.
Southern manners eventually disolved,
and I found myself walking out of the Cowboy Museum,
while the cowboy himself was still trying to engage us
in persistent and nosy conversation.

He acted offended, as if he didn't understand
how we could be so rude
as to walk out while he was still talking.

It ticked me off to be presented as the rude party,
when all I wanted was to stroll in,
look at some pictures in quiet and leave.