Shopping at Trader Joe's

Inspired by one of Underoo Elf's last posts, I'm going to try to capture the conversation I had tonight with the Trader Joe's cashier.

Waiting in line, I knew this guy was going to be a talker. It took him forever to bag the groceries of the woman in front of me, as he wasn't one of those efficient-baggers-while-keeping-up-cheerful-chatter people.

Cashier: Hi there.
Me: Hello, handing over my basket, just to let you know, there's a wallet buried somewhere in there. At least I hope there's one.
Cashier: Chuckling to himself, she says she hopes there's a wallet in there.
Cashier: Looking over my purchases, Do you have any children?
Me: Laughing and looking startled while wondering if I bought too much frozen Mandarin Chicken, no!
Cashier: Too young?
Me: Definitely too young although my Mom doesn't think so.
Cashier: Stops abruptly. You've got two different eyes. One green and one brown. That's cool.
Me (trying to be friendly): That's right. There must be something about store lighting because cashiers always seem to notice my eyes while I've had coworkers not notice the difference even after working together for a long time.

Cashier: What do you do for work?
Me: I work in Corporate Communications for XXXXXXXXX.

This gets the cashier excited as he used to work on Route 9 by our Westboro office. I get confused when he references Route 9, realizes he's talking about one of our other offices and tell him that I actually work in Waltham and that all of our offices will be consolidating this year into a new location in Waltham. This prompts the next series of questions:

Cashier: Do you think you're going to be laid off?
Me: Surprised, Um, no, working for a utility has its benefits, everyone needs their gas and electricity.
Cashier: Well, I was laid off last year.
Me: Awkwardly, I'm sorry to hear that. I feel like with this economy, everyone knows someone who has been laid off.
Cashier: And now I work at Trader Joe's.
Me: Trader Joe's seems like a good company to work for.
Cahsier: Leans in, It's a good place for the time being.

My debit card doesn't go through, so I crack a joke about how he may be onto something about layoffs if my bank account is empty. I run it through again while he watches intently to make sure I'm hitting the buttons correctly. It goes through and he looks at my name on the receipt:

Cashier: Joyce XXXX?
Me: Yes, that's Korean. I make a lame joke. That's where the brown eye comes from while my green eye is from my Caucasian side.
Cashier: I had a Chinese friend out west who had blond hair and blue eyes. She was of Polish and Chinese descent and looked nothing like all of her sisters or brothers, who all looked Chinese. She married a Brazilian surfer and now has kids who look Brazilian and Indian.
Me: That sounds like an interesting combination, especially with the Polish and Chinese mixed in as well. I'm sure her kids are beautiful with having all that mixed in.
Cashier: Well, one daughter is beautiful. Leans in intently while looking me directly in the eyes. The other, he pauses, doesn't look the best.
Me: Grabbing bags and scurrying away, Nice chatting with you.

I'm not sure how long he'll last on the job, did I mention he dropped a bag of groceries while talking to me? All in all, a very weird conversation.