Be smart, but never show it.-Louis B. Mayer

Have you ever had a job with specialized knowledge? Sure you have....every company has their own little systems and procedures that you will never be able to use in any other part of your life.



Well have you ever had an unexpected opportunity to use some knowledge from an old job that you thought was never ever going to be of use again?



That JUST happened to me and it feels AWESOME. I feel like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, or Einstein because I am so cool/intuitive/smart. I knew not only that something was wrong but what.



Here's what happened. I ordered a used CD from Amazon. I think it cost $1.98. It just arrived. I could tell as I opened the package that the jewel case was thinner than normal but was not yet alarmed. As I slid it out of the package it was obvious it was an after market case. Still no biggie maybe the original case got all banged up. But then the case slid and I could see the back plate (ya know the back part that usually has the list of songs and sits under the cradle for the actual CD) was just floating around free not attached to anything. Okay that's a bit ghetto but wait there's more....near the top of what should have been the spine of the case is a cut. Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUUUN!



Oh the suspense!



You are so excited right now I know, I know.



Man this is riveting stuff.



Here's where my super useful past job knowledge comes in. Cutting through the jewel case and the spine of the back plate is one of the ways record companies mark something as a promotional item. I have lots and lots of promos because I used to work in a music store and I know it's illegal to sell them. Technically promos remain the property of the record company but they never ask for them back.



I totally don't care that it's a promo. Like I said I have others. I'll probably loose the packaging any way. But I did send an email to Amazon letting them know what happened since they may want to know. I might not even have done that if it was an individual selling it but it was an online used CD store and they should know better.



Sure I felt like a bit of a tool for narking them out but the I am so cool because I know about promo CD's was way stronger.