There's nothing quite as irritating as someone interrupting you whilst you're trying to be professional and do your job, unless the person causing said interruption is accusing you of theft with no evidence, reason or manners.
Let me put you in my shoes.
It is the second quarter of the Auburn versus Kentucky game.
I am kneeled down on the sidelines to the right of the Auburn bench.
The Auburn offense is in the red zone attempting to put some points on the board.
As I shoot Ben Tate rushing through the Kentucky defense, I feel a tap on my left shoulder.
I look up to find a member of the Auburn coaching and athletics staff with a look colder than the weather inside Jordan-Hare.
Those of you who attended the game you can understand the logic of my dress: a thick jacket, three layers of shirts, jeans and an Auburn Under Armour beanie.
I stared at the staff member expecting to be told that I need to move behind the designated lines painted on the field for press, photographers and videographers.
I looked down and confirmed that I was clearly behind the restricted lines.
As I looked back up, I saw the meanest mug I have seen outside of The Plainsman office.
"Did you pick that hat up off the ground?" the distraught staff member asked me.
"No, sir," I replied.
"Well, it's just that this girl dropped her hat, and we can't find it," he said.
Freeze frame.
At that point, a million things are running through my mind, the majority of them being to apathetically respond with, "And..."
Why am I being interrogated for someone else's mistake and carelessness?
Why is this man whose only thought process for even beginning to accuse me had to be, Well, he is wearing a hat.
"Well, I've been wearing this the entire game," I replied, as I looked around trying to find someone I knew who could vouch for my attire.
"OK," the man tells me as he appears to be satisfied with my response, turns to walk back to not doing his job, and I turn around to mine: my camera.
Then, I hear a very faint "Well, where did you buy it?"
Wow.
It's not enough he could have made me miss the biggest play in Auburn football history, due to his irresponsible staff not being able to hold on to their belongings, but this is where the line is crossed.
Looking back on the situation, I should not have answered his question.
Why would me telling him the name of the store solve anything at all?
Alas, the scared naive side of me came out as I envisioned the result of my actions, just as Cory Matthews taught me to do as a young lad.
"The Haley Bookstore," I said.
"OK," the staff member said as he walked away.
The incident continued to swirl through my mind that night and still does every time I return to an Auburn football game.
I am aware that I am no big time photographer with bags of equipment worth more than some cars on campus, but I take my job seriously.
While I do miss being squished in the student section like sardines with my Auburn family, as we cheer our voices off for a team that is trying to live up to our expectations and bring us back to being the dominant SEC team we once were, not even Antonio Coleman could pry the press pass from my hands.
There is no better feeling than capturing every moment of this Auburn team on its way back to the top and sharing it with the Auburn faithful.
It would be irrational of me to associate one ignorant staff member with the entire Auburn athletics department, which is why I am not.
All I ask for is the same amount of respect and professionalism in return.
War Eagle.
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