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Some of you may want to steer clear of bike shops and music shops if you're worried about being a victim of coolguyicide. As long as you have an idea of what you want - and don't pretend to know more than you do, you should be ok. Whenever I go to any of these places, I know what I don't know and am not afraid to ask. Employees of any kind of hobby shop appreciate that more than some dipshit trying talk shop in a "look how much I know" way. Comes off as corny. Be yourself and be a normal human being. If you are those things + honest it doesn't really matter what skill level you are or how cool you look.
Popular sub-cultures that derive from people's passions tend to be like this. Especially people who have managed to tie-in their self-worth with a said hobby. Audio equipment and Vinyl of things I'm interested can absolutely be like this, music is subjective so I'm not gonna debate my passion of 90s hip-hop on Vinyl vs collecting 70's rock, and I know if I ever entered high-end audio to find a dealer/distributor I'd trust over trying to be the smartest guy in the room.
^This is pretty accurate. I'd also advise anyone to try to go into a shop more than once as well so they can get to know the staff and stuff.
I told my roommate that he might get cool-guyed at the local photo store we go to for getting 35mm film processed. He just started shooting film and i let him know that he might feel a little weird/awkward the first few times he goes because he may not yet understand the terminology or lingo that comes with film (similar to going to a skateshop for your first time). He definitely got cool-guyed the first time, but i told him to keep coming back and to stay friendly with them and sure enough he's gotten to know the staff there better and is comfortable going in now.
We also have to remember that while working in shops we get plenty of kooks, so it may be hard to differentiate at times until you get to talk to the customer/vice versa.
I dunno, that just seems like another side of the equation to consider before completely throwing a shop under the bus for going in one time and one time only and expecting the staff to treat us like we're regulars.