Friday, November 17, 2006

Shouldn't you be alphabetizing the tech vests or something?

Scene: Me, minding my own business, browsing in a local 0ld Navy store (because I love me some unremarkably, yet comfortable, moderately-priced clothes) and wishing that the teenage sales associate would move so I could look at the clearance jeans.

Sales Associate: "Do you have hot chocolate?"

Because this was completely out of the blue and a total non-sequitor, I assumed that she was talking on one of those headset things. But she was staring directly at me.

Me: "Excuse me?"

Sales Associate (in a kind of demand-y tone): "Do you have hot chocolate?"

Me (trying to figure out why she's talking to me like I don't understand English): "um..."

Sales Associate (making a big deal of looking at everything I'm carrying): "Hot chocolate. Do you have hot chocolate? I smell hot chocolate. I was looking to see if you had a Starbucks cup."

Me (holding up the two shirts in my hand): "Uh... no, no Starbucks, no hot chocolate."

In truth, just a few minutes before, I'd put on my favorite yummy-smelling vanilla hand lotion, it's a scent that one with a less discerning sense of smell could easily confuse with hot chocolate, but she was being a little too abrasive for someone in retail so I wasn't going to admit it.

Where the hell are people's manners? When did it become okay for people to just verbally assault complete strangers? Would it kill someone to have a dialogue that wasn't an abbreviated text message of a conversation? I'll admit that I rarely talk on the phone because I hate all the bullshit small talk, but seriously!