What are you deaf or something?

I was a political science major in college and I have always had an interest in politics and the way government works. With that being said I just wanted to remind everyone that today is November 2nd--election day--so get out there and vote! I'm excited because I'm going to be volunteering at the polls later this afternoon. And if you think voting is a waste of time, maybe just take a minute a think about the groups of people throughout our history who have fought and struggled for a right so many of us take for granted.

Now that we have taken care of the serious business I wanted to talk about some of the stupidest things I have done as a cashier.

There was a customer who came up to my register. He had his hands full and was looking down as he set his groceries down on the belt. I smiled and said, "Hi. How are you?" and he didn't look up or even nod in recognition. Now, I thought this was sort of rude but I have gotten sort of used to the strong silent type so I started scanning his groceries and I asked, "Are plastic bags ok?" And he still didn't answer me--well, now I'm starting to get sort of annoyed and I'm thinking to myself, "God, this guy is really rude. I mean how difficult is it to at least acknowledge that I asked him a question--what is he deaf or something?" I was about to say something else to him when an adorable little girl with blonde, curly hair ran up to him and tugged at his jacket sleeve. He looked down at her and she started signing to him and asked if she could get some candy. He shook his head and signed back something else (which I obviously didn't understand because I don't know sign language). He finally looked up at me and smiled and pointed to the screen asking for the total. I pointed to the total and he nodded. And wow, did I feel like an asshole after that. I think I learned that sometimes it can be easy to impatient with someone but if you take a minute and put yourself in their shoes or ask yourself why they are acting a certain way maybe something that seemed rude at first will make sense.

That is just one of the many stupid things I have done as a cashier--there are many stupid things I have done and, unfortunately, I'm sure there are many more stupid things I will do in the future.