I was reading Jane’s Inspirations, when I found an announcement of a contest: “Odd Remembrances — What are your strangest memories? What are the most unusual, out of the ordinary, twisted memories you can conjure?”

My first thought was that my sense of humor is twisted, but memories? And then I remembered what happened to me on one of my visits to Madrid.

Perhaps I was jet lagged — I don’t really remember. I had some time to myself and I went to El Corte Inglés, which is a Spanish mega-store. You can find just about anything at El Corte Inglés, and I wanted some CDs by José Luis Perales. So I walked the short distance to their nearest store.

I entered the part of the store that held music. It was huge! I looked for an employee as I walked into that area. I was in a hurry — my time was short. And then I saw the distinctive employee uniform, and began to approach.

I couldn’t walk up to this person, but I’d have to walk past, around a huge pillar and then come back a bit to talk to . . . Her. As I came nearer I could see it was a female. Tall, thin and perfectly groomed. Not a hair out of place. Not a wrinkle in the uniform. No it’s not a manequin — I saw her move. I’m sure I did.

I walked past the pillar and started to turn around the end of a large display case that was loaded with CDs. As I came around the end, she had moved closer and there I was face to face with this gal — this pretty girl. I was surprised, even shocked that I had almost walked into her. Time to ask where to find my music. I opened my mouth and said, “Aaaahh.” Brain freeze! Now what was it I wanted. Oh yes.

Before I could ask my question, she smiled, touched me on the arm and said, “Está bien esto pasa todo los días.” (That’s okay this happens every day.) We both laughed.

I asked my question. She directed me up the stairs to the second floor. I found the Perales CDs that I was looking for.

I’ll have to admit, I’m not sure what she meant by “It happens every day.” Does she almost walk into customers? Or do guys not know what to say when they see her? I neither know or care. But I still get a laugh when I remember that brief encounter in El Corte Inglés.