I was at the grocery store the other day. I bought exactly 3 items. A package of hamburger meat, an onion, and toilet paper. It fit all in one bag. The guy says, “Do you need help out with that?” He was so used to asking this question, he just said it out of habit. I go to the fast food joint, by myself, and order 4 burgers, 4 fries, etc., and they ask if I want it to go. I just look at them funny, and say, “No, I’m really hungry, I’ll just eat it here.” With a smile, of course. I know they’re supposed to ask these things, it’s just funny when they don’t think about it.
What have you heard lately that people just say by rote, without any thought given to the situation?
I was buying a bunch of stuff for a cold in the drugstore - I came up to the counter with sinus medicine, throat medicine, aspirin, and kleenex, and the till lady says “Hi! How are you today?” My response - a very pluggy “I’b bed bedder.” (translation to non-coldese - "Ive been better.)
when i was doing tech support, i spent about 75% of all calls on auto-pilot, with my conscious mind surfing the web. i imagine a lot of people in retail do the same thing. sometimes i crashed. more than a few times at the end of the call i would say “you’re welcome” before they said thank you.
also, whenever the server at a restaurant tells me to enjoy my meal, half the time i’ll say “you too!” because i was expecting a “have a nice day” type line.
When people ask you how you are, you ALWAYS say “fine”. You could be trapped under a car with your leg halfway across the street, the paramedic would arrive and say, “Hey! Jane Doe, I know you! How are you?”
I used to work in fast food, and to be fair, a lot of times a family will come in, and all but one person will go to the bathroom or get a table, and that one person will order all the food.
I also do the inappropriate “you too” quite a lot.
Well that’s certainly true, but it’s happened when they’re not busy, and they see me come in. I don’t get upset or anything, I generally just tease them a little.
Why is it that, if you say “thank you” to some people, they respond with “no problem?” Why not “you’re welcome?” Did I imply it was a problem? Or was it, in fact, a problem and you’re just being polite?
BTW, at where I work, we make it a point not to practice what’s known in the retail industry as “rehearsed indifference” (e.g. “Have a nice day,” “Can I help you?” etc.) We make an effort to actually try to speak to our customers as real people, not just statistics or automations.
What drives me nuts is the obligatory Monday morning ritual of being asked, “Did you have a good weekend?”
Let’s see…I had two days off from work. I could have spent those two days in a coma and it would have been better than being at work. Sigh. I just give the standard “Yes” response.
Other than that, like, um, you know, I can’t, like, um, really think of, you know, any other phrases that, like, people say, um, all the time, you know, without, like, thinking about, um, what they’re saying, you know? :rolleyes:
And related to that is the co-worker who, as he/she is walking by you, says, “How ya doin’?”
WTF? If you actually expect me to answer you with anything other than “fine”, you’d better start asking when you’re farther away, or STOP. Because otherwise, you’ll be past me by the time I answer. (I know they don’t really expect an answer. But why ask?)
If I didn’t work in a law firm, where people are uptight, one of these days I swear I’d say, in a low, conversational tone, “Fine. I just shot a man to watch him die.”
When I was a Domino’s Driver back in college, I would always say “enjoy your pizza” at the end of the transaction. half the time time, people would say ‘you too’ as the response. One night it happened at EVERY stop (25 deliveries)
I’ve also noticed while explaining English to non-English speakers, “how are you” actually means “hello” and “fine” actually means “hello to you too”. Once I explain that, they (I would hope) never get it wrong again, as in the following situation:
American (walking by swiftly): “How are you doing?”
“Welcome to McDonalds, can I help you?” is my usual drive thru response. I’ve been known to answer the phone that way too, both at work and at home.
I always ask if that will be all after they order, even if they clearly stated they were done ordering.
I always ask for here or to go, and then bag everything regardless of their answer. I think I just ask because I’m sposed to.
Last time I went to the movies, the guy who tears off the ticket stub told me to enjoy the show, and without really thinking, I smiled, and replied “You too!” He laughed at me.
When I’m play fighting with a friend (“Am not!” “Are too!”“Am not!” etc), I usually keep going, even if they give up, or admit that I’m right (rarely happens, but still!). “Okay, fine, you win.” “Am not!!” After a while, I have a one track mind
I used to work in a McDonald’s when I was a teenager. I also started to say, “Thank you for calling McDonald’s, may I help you?” every now and then when answering the phone at home.
We also would ask–by rote–if people would like nuts on their sundaes. The first time I worked in the drive-thru, I was nervous, and asked a guy if he would like hot fudge sundae on his nuts.
