🔗 Share this article Addressing the Cashier Who Made Me Absolutely Wordless – Kudos to You It was a weekend morning, and I was grumpy enough, refueling the family car. This was a typical gas station that operates as a grocery store, meaning there's a chance of waiting behind customers carrying goods of slightly overpriced groceries. This is a dreadful thing to occur when all you want is to get gasoline and leave. Dreadful. I was fourth in the queue. A single cashier operating, a youthful clerk. Something stood out in her demeanor. Once the slowpoke at the front of the queue had at last settled for his purchases, his sausage roll, and his box of eggs, I was certain that I heard the cashier bid him a wonderful day. Unusual. Could be I misunderstood, or perhaps she spoke and used a mocking tone. I pondered if she might actually be an ally in my fight against faff, echoing my disdain for people who hold up straightforward customers like me. Advancing next, to third in the queue. The person ahead of the queue finished pumping gas with commendable speed. Again, the phrase came: “I hope you have a fantastic day.” No, actually, it was “have a wonderful day”. An American? In Stourbridge? The pronunciation indicated it, and no British person tells people such a cheerful phrase, or merely a pleasant day. Quite out of place. You don’t get US citizens frequenting this area, and definitely not working in petrol stations or elsewhere. I was second now. Behind a poor older woman embroiled in a right old battle with her shopping cart, her groceries, her wallet and her membership pass. The process dragged on. When she was done, she too received the wish an excellent day. Definitely from the US. I might have verified it by saying something hilarious at the cashier, to see if she did that thing their typical stare, unsmilingly, and reply with genuine earnest: “You are very amusing.” But I couldn’t think of anything hilarious to say. I just had to settle for the absolute sincerity – or a mimicry of sincerity, that equates to identical in effect – as she gazed me right in the eye, piercingly, and wished me a wonderful day. I felt better for it. Beneficial indeed.