🔗 Share this article

The scene was a Sunday morning, and I felt grumpy enough, refueling my mother's vehicle. The location was a typical gas station that also functions as a convenience store, meaning there's a chance of joining a queue customers carrying goods of pricey provisions. This is a dreadful thing to unfold when your only desire is to pay for some fuel. Dreadful.

I was fourth in the queue. A single employee working, a young woman. A peculiar quality to her presence. After the ditherer at the head of the line had at last settled for his purchases, a baked snack, and his box of eggs, It seemed to me that I heard the cashier wish him to have a great day. Unusual. Perhaps I’d misheard, or perhaps she spoke and used a mocking tone. The thought crossed my mind if perhaps she was a comrade in my battle with dithering, echoing my disdain for people who hold up simple fuel-buyers such as myself.

Advancing next, now third in line. The next shopper of the queue discharged her fuel-only transaction with commendable speed. Again, the phrase came: “Have a wonderful day.” No, actually, it was “may your day be absolutely splendid”. A stateside native? At this location? Her tone suggested it, and no British person wishes anyone those exact words, or even just a nice day. Quite out of place. It's uncommon to find many Americans knocking around Stourbridge, certainly not holding jobs in fueling spots or elsewhere.

Second in line at last. After an elderly lady embroiled in a protracted effort with her carryall, her purchases, her purse and her loyalty card. It went on for ever. After she finished, the woman also was wished an excellent day. Yes, American for sure. I might have verified it by cracking a joke at the cashier, to check for that response as they gaze at you, unsmilingly, and reply with genuine earnest: “That’s really funny.” But I couldn’t think of anything hilarious to utter.

In the end, I embraced the genuine warmth – or a performance of it, which amounts to the same thing – as she gazed me right in the eye, piercingly, and wished me to have a great day. My spirits lifted. It was a good thing.