🔗 Share this article For the Store Clerk That Left Me Completely Without Words – Kudos to You It was a day of rest, and I found myself grumpy enough, topping off my mum’s car. It was a common fuel stop that doubles as a supermarket, so you run the risk of waiting behind people bearing baskets of slightly overpriced groceries. A terrible fate to occur when the sole aim is to get gasoline and leave. Awful. I was fourth in the queue. A single person serving, a young woman. Something stood out in her demeanor. When the faffer at the first position had completed payment for his Viakal, his sausage roll, and his box of eggs, It seemed to me that I heard the cashier bid him to have a great day. Odd. Perhaps I’d misheard, or maybe she did say it and used a mocking tone. I wondered if perhaps she was a supporter in my battle with dithering, sharing my contempt for people who hold up straightforward customers like me. Advancing next, to third in the queue. The person ahead of our group discharged her fuel-only transaction with impressive quickness. Once more it happened: “I hope you have a fantastic day.” No, actually, it was “may your day be absolutely splendid”. An American? At this location? Her tone suggested it, and no British person says to others those exact words, or simply a good day. Very rare. It's uncommon to find US citizens knocking around Stourbridge, and definitely not working in petrol stations or elsewhere. I was second now. Following a senior shopper dealing with a right old battle with her basket, her purchases, her handbag and her loyalty card. It went on for ever. When she was done, she too was wished an excellent day. Yes, American for sure. Confirming it was possible by making a witty remark in her direction, to see if she did that reaction when they look at you, stoically, and say with absolute sincerity: “You are very amusing.” Yet no idea came of a funny comment to utter. I just had to settle the heartfelt tone – or a mimicry of sincerity, which amounts to the same thing – while she stared me right in the eye, to my very core, and bid me an awesome day. It improved my mood. A positive experience.