The time Slayer’s Kerry King came into my work (or the most unexciting celebrity encounter you've ever heard in your life)

Andrew Jacobs here,

Back in 2002, I was working as a substitute teacher. To supplement my teaching income (because I only got paid once a month and I only made $95 a day IF I was fortunate enough to get a subbing job that day), I took a part time job at a local FYE store. 2012 American job market notwithstanding, working a borderline minimum wage retail job when you’re in your early 30s isn’t the greatest thing in the world (and to make matters much worse, it was in a mall). However, it was also a music and movie store, so needless to say, I absolutely LOVED working there.

One day, I noticed that one of the customers in the store looked very familiar. Turns out that it was none other than Kerry King, guitarist and co-founder of Slayer.

Kerry wound up going to my cash register to purchase a South Park DVD. I remember him saying, “I’ve been looking everywhere for that!”. I rang him up and thanked him for shopping at FYE. Because I’ve never been that much of a Slayer fan (sacrilege when you write for Decibel Geek, I know), I decided not to let him know that I knew who he was.

Before walking out of the store, Kerry stopped for a minute or two (or 3) to stare at the huge poster of a topless Christina Aguilera, which was prominently on display to promote her then upcoming new album Stripped.

That’s it. Told ya it was unexciting.