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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Day of the ListMaker

Certain things bother me.  Things that most people either enjoy or just don't think too much about.  But I can't help it - I have a long list of quirks that, aside from making me who I am, segment me from most people.

I have a problem with nice retail people.  When I go buy something - food, clothes, KY, etc - I like to get lost in my mind.  Walking around looking at stuff and thinking about my day is something I enjoy when I shop.  And since I am a rabid consumer, this happens often to me.

In my mind there are several levels of what I call "Retail Kindness".  At the bottom you have the Starfish, those people that are just rude assholes.  Nobody likes them.  Next is the Sub-human, who can barley figure out how to tear off your reciept and hand it to you.  Most of us can deal with this person, though we mock them in the car.  One level up is the John Q type, fairly normal and nothing fancy.  These people will just say "hi", "thank you", and "have a good day".  My favorite person to hand my cash to.  Then you get to the Medicated ... those folks that are just way too happy to be asking you if you want black or pinto beans like it is the best part of their day.  Awful, but tolerable.  The top on my list here is the ListMaker, who wants to hear about every aspect of your day.  Dude, don't ask me if I am off today or if I work locally.  Just put my chips in the bag there and leave me alone.

Why can't more retail folks be the John Q type and just limit conversation to the task at hand - serving me?  Not that I need to be praised and celebrated as a great person, but I just want to fulfill my role as a consumer and make a purchase, not give you a rundown of my day and my intentions with the product I am buying.

I dunno, maybe I'm alone in this, but overly nice people creep me the hell out.

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