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When I was a young and single guy, the supermarket was one of my favorite places to meet women. You can learn a lot from a shopping cart, like whether you can both cook. A few minutes of conversation was enough to decide if we wanted to move on to a cup of coffee, and if either one of us wasn't interested we could just go back to shopping.
Not that I'm old and married, I still strike up conversations with strangers. Not long ago at Goodwill I pointed out a Presto Power Pop as the best microwave popper ever made to a woman about my own age. She used an air popper, but the conversation went on for half an hour, mostly about Medicare supplemental insurance, which was weighing on her mind. My wife used to manage a medical clinic, so I was aware of some resources for her. It was a very cordial conversation. She was a nice woman.
Happens to me all the time. People will ask if I work at the store and I say no, but, they proceed to ask anyway. I'm of course happy to help if I can.
All the time. I think it is very rare if I go grocery shopping and don't strike up a conversation about food or recipes. Sometimes I am the one asking…like the time I stopped everyone in the wine aisle and asked for the best wine to make shrimp scampi, or the time last summer when I needed to buy a watermelon and asked how to tell when they were the ripest. That started a conversation between about 6 people, lol.
Today I went grocery shopping at Wally world and I helped a man get a big bottle of juice off a shelf, spoke to three different people about the price of ground beef, talked with another man who is making spaghetti and meatballs for his wife on Christmas, talked with another older man who is a crossing guard at the elementary school and he gave me a recipe for peanut butter fudge and I told him how to make Buckeyes and he should pour melted chocolate over his peanut butter fudge. I think that was all
No wonder why it takes me so long to go grocery shopping, lol.
What do you do when they ask you what time it is? Tell them how to make a watch?
Well now that depends on how they ask. If they ask me what time it is, I'll tell them what time it is. However, if they ask "do you know what time it is?", then I might just answer "yes" and leave it at that.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,858,882 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sskink
Well now that depends on how they ask. If they ask me what time it is, I'll tell them what time it is. However, if they ask "do you know what time it is?", then I might just answer "yes" and leave it at that.
Hahahaha! It's best when you look at your watch before just saying "Yes" just to REALLY tick them off... or make them laugh. That's the true test of a person -- whether or not they laugh.
Yes, from time to time. Mostly it's can you tell me where ... is or can you reach that for me or they see a particular item in my cart and ask how it is. I do that too, if I see an item I have not tried I'll ask another customer how it tastes. Sometimes I find myself giving out recipes to other shoppers LOL
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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I'm a talker. I like to talk. I tell people that I like their hair style, that I like what they're wearing, etc... It's what I do.
When I moved from Montreal to Connecticut, I got a rude awakening. People in Connecticut are very reserved -- a bit lesser so in Massachusetts, where I moved afterward; but definitely in Connecticut, where they're known for not being open to conversation, for being reserved, for keeping to themselves.
Not a grocery store -- but whatever, I'm a talker -- but in Home Depot: My husband (now ex) and I were looking for kitchen tiles. Terracotta. After looking at a bazillion tiles, we had narrowed it down to two, one that he liked better, one that I did. But after looking at ALL THOSE TILES, neither of us were seeing straight, but we knew that we wanted the one that looked more orange than red. Right then, a woman was walking by, so I asked her, "Can I ask you to be the decision-maker here? Can you tell me which of these looks more orange to you?" I don't think she said anything, but the look that she gave me certainly put me in my place. Feh!
Here in Montreal, where French is the major language (and I no longer speak it), that's my big barrier -- I could end up talking to someone who doesn't understand me. But we always figure it out. But in Connecticut, it's the reservedness that was my barrier. Still, it didn't stop me. The woman in Home Depot was the worst apple in the barrel. Most people were happy (well, maybe not HAPPY!) to interact with me. It's not what they're used to in Connecticut, but I wore them down, one by one!
Sometimes, but only about the location of something...do I know where the "whatever" is...
Usually it's fine but once in a while if you answer one question they follow you asking other
questions...
Do people ask you food questions when you shop? This has happened to me several times.
For example, I was in the produce area once and a young man with a newborn in tow told me that his wife sent him shopping. On the list were "baking apples". He asked me what kind of apples he should get. I took the time to point them out.
Another time, a man asked me what type of cream he should buy for a recipe he was making. I explained the difference between heavy and light cream.
I have more stories that I can tell. Both men and women have approached me. Each time, I'm glad to take the time to help them.
When I tell others that this happens to me, they tell me that no one has ever asked them such questions.
Do any of you have similar stories to share?
I'm one of those people who never gets asked questions like that. Maybe you look like you could be one of those TV personality chefs.
I'm a talker. I like to talk. I tell people that I like their hair style, that I like what they're wearing, etc... It's what I do.
When I moved from Montreal to Connecticut, I got a rude awakening. People in Connecticut are very reserved -- a bit lesser so in Massachusetts, where I moved afterward; but definitely in Connecticut, where they're known for not being open to conversation, for being reserved, for keeping to themselves.
Not a grocery store -- but whatever, I'm a talker -- but in Home Depot: My husband (now ex) and I were looking for kitchen tiles. Terracotta. After looking at a bazillion tiles, we had narrowed it down to two, one that he liked better, one that I did. But after looking at ALL THOSE TILES, neither of us were seeing straight, but we knew that we wanted the one that looked more orange than red. Right then, a woman was walking by, so I asked her, "Can I ask you to be the decision-maker here? Can you tell me which of these looks more orange to you?" I don't think she said anything, but the look that she gave me certainly put me in my place. Feh!
Here in Montreal, where French is the major language (and I no longer speak it), that's my big barrier -- I could end up talking to someone who doesn't understand me. But we always figure it out. But in Connecticut, it's the reservedness that was my barrier. Still, it didn't stop me. The woman in Home Depot was the worst apple in the barrel. Most people were happy (well, maybe not HAPPY!) to interact with me. It's not what they're used to in Connecticut, but I wore them down, one by one!
I can relate to this! In the San Francisco Bay Area, this friendliness and chattiness is fairly common, or was, until the sudden influx some years ago (and ongoing) of a lot of technology workers from around the country and the world, watering down the local culture. I would have been delighted to help you make your decision. We need you by the Bay, to strengthen the flock of birds of your feather. Seattle, on the other hand, is a lot like what you experienced in CT. Friendliness gets no response.
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A few minutes of conversation was enough to decide if we wanted to move on to a cup of coffee, and if either one of us wasn't interested we could just go back to shopping. 
