Me? I generally don’t give a shit. If somebody wants to say something about my food, have at it. I may respond, or I may think you’re an idiot (depending on what you say), but I’m not gonna be particularly bothered.
I’m surprised by all the chatty cashiers mentioned here. I shop for food about 4-5 days a week at 4 different grocery stores and I rarely get into conversations with them. There’s maybe two or three that I’ll regularly talk to, whom I’ve gotten to know the tiniest bit over the years, but chatty cashiers are a definite minority in my experience here in Chicago. Maybe the rare time I step foot in a Trader Joe’s are they a bit more talkative, but that’s the only place I could think of where I feel it’s a norm beyond the places that do the “did you find everything you need?” bit. Typically, conversations stop there. Like I said, if you like talking, I’m more than happy to talk! (I’m an ambivert, if I had to characterize myself.)
With #1, I might let out a gruff chuckle and just say “yeah,” or just say “stockin’ up for the Delta variant” or something if I’m feeling off-the-cuff.
With #2, I’d most likely be confused, inwardly giggle at the awkward attempt at a joke, and probably outwardly laugh as well. Or say something like “huh…I didn’t think of that … you know a good recipe?”
With #3 – is that to be taken as a weight put down, assuming I’m fat or something? That one would just confuse me. So, maybe with that one, my “I don’t give a shit attitude” might be tested a bit, depending on my mood. Most days, I’d ignore, because rationally I don’t care what somebody in line thinks about my food purchases. But if I’m looking for an excuse for a confrontation, who knows. Most likely, though, I’d just think the person is fucking crazy and treat them like whatever raving lunatic I pass by on the way to the El and just go on my day, giving them no significance to my day or mood.
I should add, though, is that I would have responded from the first “Mmm…ice cream” with something to see where that was going.
With #4 - I’d probably just riff along with it. Harmless enough and just general well-meaning (in my interpretation) chit-chat. I’d probably continue the conversation about how I used to love buffets when I was younger and how I missed the all-you-can-eat at Bobaks on Archer back in the day, or some such foodie bullshit conversation that I could steer. Usually a response like that will have the other person trigger memories of some buffet they liked and we can both have a quick conversation. Or I might say something like “just don’t tell my wife” if she’s not there, or some other innocuous bullshit.
Now I personally don’t open up conversations most of the time in any of these situations. I may ask the cashier “how’s your day going so far?” and take cues from there because, you know, they’re human and I like to acknowledge that fact. But that’s maybe a quarter of the time.
