I ordered my drink at the drive-thru and pulled around. Rolling down my window I heard, “How are you this evening?”
“I’m good,” I answered as I got my money out.
“Better than I was a few minutes ago,” she said as she leaned out the window. At first I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or not, but she continued, apparently assuming I had returned the greeting with a query into her current state. “I was crying my eyes out so bad I could hardly breathe. That’ll be $1.51.” She handed me my drink.
As I fumbled desperately for the correct change, wondering what social etiquette this sort of situation called for, she went on. “It was pretty awful. But I guess that’s what boys will do to you, right?”
A pause. Oh God, not a pause. What was I supposed to say now?
I mumbled something to the effect of, “I guess so” and handed her two dollar bills. While she made change, I pondered saying something more – “I hope the rest of your night goes well,” or another pithy statement that would be moderately sincere sounding. But she handed me my change and quickly turned to chat with a coworker.
Sometimes they just need someone who will listen.
Yes, Lord, I do so appreciate the irony.
I want to post something just to show that I really do read your blog, but I don’t know what to say about this, either!! This has to be one of the most bizarre encounters I’ve ever heard of. You handled it beautifully!
It’s funny – I grew up with a Mom who has people clutching her arm and spilling their life stories to her as she’s walking down the street!! She’s just one of those people who make you feel like you can tell her anything, so people do. All the time. As I get older (I’m almost 32), I am finding that people are starting to do the same thing to me. Thanks to my Mom, I kind of have an idea how to handle it, but I still get that deer-in-the-headlights feeling from time to time! Maybe you should consider double-majoring in psych or something. ;-)