“Uh huh.” That’s what the woman working the cash register at the fast food place said the other day when I thanked her.
“Uh huh.” That’s what a lot of people working the cash registers at a lot of different stores have said over the years when I’ve thanked them.
What is up with that???? If it were just one isolated case, I would thought twice about it. Well, maybe I would have, but I certainly wouldn’t be devoting an entire blog post to it. I’ve gotten that exact response so often now that I can only believe that it’s come to be the universal cashiers’ response. I was raised to say “please” when asking for something, “thank you” when someone’s done something for me or given me something, and “you’re welcome” when someone has thanked me. Isn’t that how most people are raised? And, in fact, when I thank people in other settings, they generally do say “you’re welcome” or something to that effect. They never say “uh huh.” That response, it seems, is for cashiers only.
So, again I ask, what is up with that? Honestly, I’d prefer to get no response at all than that, because then at least I could pretend they hadn’t heard me. To me, “uh huh” acknowledges they’ve heard me and indicates that’s all they feel that’s all that’s necessary, that the common courtesies I thought we’ve all learned do not apply.
Yes, I know, it’s a silly thing to be bothered by, but there you have it.
A lot of those cashiers have short term memory problems, too. I say “A number 3 for here, please” and less than a minute later she says, “Here or to go?” Happens all the time.
Total Comments by Cal: 3
Oh yeah, that happens a lot to me, too, to the point where I rarely give them any information until they specifically ask for it. And even then they’ll often forget what I’ve told them!