Carol Bontekoe

This blog has been keeping track of my adventures since 2004. The stories and the adventures have come from my college dorm room to Uganda, Peace Corps Kyrgyzstan, learning Dutch in the Netherlands to living in the wilds of Homer, Alaska. I went back to school in Amsterdam to study Theaterwetenschap (Theatre Science) at University of Amsterdam. And now my adventures as a Fruit Fly, a Sexy Unicorn, and creating a movement with Team Sparkle in Chicago.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Mid-western Politeness in Alaska

I'm very polite.
Well sure, no, I mean obviously not if you know me.
I meant I'm very polite in a store, out in general public kind of way.
Ya know, that Midwestern kind of politeness.
I can wait in line patiently.
I can do the chit-chat with cashiers if necessary.
I love doing that whole, "have a nice day thing." However, this Midwestern politeness makes me look like a total A##hole sometimes. It mostly comes at the end of a transaction, if the cashier isn't as polite as I am.
The cashier will just hand me my receipt and say, "Here's your receipt." That seems to be the norm up here in Alaska. The problem is I have it programed in my head not to just end there. I try to just take the receipt and walk away, but my brain clicks and turns. The final result ends up being me ticking and nodding as I take my receipt, or more often than not it goes something like this:
"Here's your receipt."
"Thanks, you too."
????????-all across the face of the cashier.
My trigger response isn't so weird if the cashier says, "Have a nice day."
That ingrained polite trigger response just makes me look like a goon.
Note to self:
work on a proper response to, "Here's your receipt."
Maybe, "Thanks. I will file this, under "D" for donut."

2 comments :

  1. Anonymous said...

    Hahaha! Don't act like you didn't buy that donut! We don't need to bring ink and paper into this.

    -Tom (forgot my password to my own blog account)

  2. Tom said...

    I think I got it.