Check it Out
Does anyone else find it annoying when you're buying something at the store and the checkout person comments on what you're buying?
Example: You're buying a book, and as you hand it to the checkout guy, he looks at what you're getting and goes "great book man".
What is the correct response?
A. "Umm... thanks" - It feels like a compliment, so almost by reflex, I feel like I should thank the guy. But when you think about it, it doesn't make sense. Should I feel proud of my choice of book? Cause chances are, if I'm buying it now, I probably haven't read it yet. So really, he's complimenting whoever recommended the book to me for having great taste, whether it's Oprah's Book Club or in this case, Wu's Book Club. The reflex reaction is kind of like when you go to the movie theater, and the guy ripping your stub goes "enjoy the show". You wanna be like "thanks, you too", but then you realize that while you're enjoying the show, he's probably gonna be ripping stubs for the next 2 hours and saying "enjoy the show" to hundreds of other people. So you feel dumb.
B. "Mind your own forking business and just give me my damn book" - After you feel dumb, then you feel angry and blame the guy for making you feel dumb. If he would just do his job and stop trying to be nice by talking to me, then I wouldn't have felt dumb. So a part of me wants to berate this kid for this reason.
C. Give him the eyebrow raise and a polite smile/nod - A healthy compromise between choices A and B, and what I usually decide upon because I'm a nice guy like that.
Anyways, this doesn't just apply to book-buying. Another example:
You head to the express lane at Jewel with a 18 pack of Coors Light, chips, dip, Margarita mix, etc., and the lady goes "big party tonight eh?"
First of all, who are you, some sort of detective? Encyclopedia Brown, perhaps? Second of all, notice I'm in the express lane. Realize that this means I don't feel like wasting time chatting with the cashier about my plans for the evening. And you know what, I just don't like the feeling that the person checking out my stuff is paying attention to what I'm getting. Even though it's probably unrealistic to expect them to not notice what they're scanning, at least make some effort to keep the illusion alive that you're just doing your job and not trying to analyze each item I'm purchasing.
Where does it end? If I show up at the register at Best Buy with 128 MB of RAM, is the guy gonna be like "upgrading your memory eh"? If I buy 2 pairs of boxers at the mall, is the cashier gonna be like "I guess you're a boxers man, I see"? If I get some Mach 3 Turbo replacement blades at Walmart, are they gonna say "enjoy your shaving experience"? If so, what should my reaction be?
In conclusion, I would like to say that everyone is annoying, and from now on I'm buying everything online.
