I've been a chemist too long....

I recently went to the Apple Store.  Since the iPad launched, the Apple Store is much busier.  In the past (pre iPad), you could walk in, find someone in a brightly colored T-shirt, ask your question/buy your product and be on your way.  Now, you have to find the "dude with the iPad" and put your name on a list.  Then you wait until someone in a brightly colored T-shirt (currently bright blue) finds you.  

This gives you ample time to play with the iPads (oh, you evil Apple marketing geniuses), but it's an inconvenience, especially if you want to complete your transaction in less than 15 minutes.

So, I needed to buy a computer, but I didn't want to wait for an available salesgeek.  Surely Apple has something for me.  Yes they do!  You can sign up for a personal shopping appointment.  I discovered this by dropping by the Apple Store and talking to the "dude with the iPad".  He gave me his card because it had the web address for personal shopping appointments.

OK--what does this have to do with being a chemist?

I took the card home and left it on my desk.  When I next looked at it, I was confused.  Under his name, instead of "dude with the iPad" it said "lead specialist".  I read this as the metal lead (chemical symbol Pb, known for its high density and presence in paint made before 1978).

Why, I thought, would Apple have a metal specialist.

Oh, of course, it's lead (leed) rather than lead (led) (the metal).  This is why I've been a chemist too long.

But this just lead (ha) to further confusion.  If someone is a specialist, aren't they unique?  Why would they need a leader?  And if they are not, why call them a specialist?  If they need a leader, wouldn't that be the special-est specialist?

Dude with the iPad is much more descriptive.

Someday, maybe I'll have an iPad of my own.  Until then, I have to hang out at the Apple Store.