The Grocery Checker Scourge
Finally, there are the checkers. A more despondent species does not exist. I know it’s heresy to say in NYC, but in other parts of the country, when you’re dealing with someone, in whatever capacity, you begin the conversation with “Hello.” But time is money in the concrete jungle, and such niceties cannot be afforded.
My conversations with NYC grocery checkers either involve a dialogue similar to this:
Me: “Hi, there..[scan]… no, I have my own bags, thanks…[scan]…[scan]……[scan]…debit, please.”
Checker: “Credit or debit?”
Me: “Um…debit…[scan].”
Or the conversation bypasses me altogether as the checkers talk to one another in Spanish about what an asshole Carlos is and argue about whether the other one could be pregnant. All the while, they scan my groceries, one…[scan]…by…[scan]…one…[scan].
This is from my classmate Samantha McCann in reference to Westside Market, where I shop. New Yorkers have a reputation for rudeness, and for the most part it is unjustified. I've found the locals here to be extremely courteous and kind during my months here, though I'm sure coming from China has given me rose-colored lenses on this issue. But Samantha's right- the tellers at Westside Market on 110th St. and Broadway are just miserable. On a lucky day I might get a "you're welcome" from them, but for the most part buying groceries there is a silent transaction.
Still, it's a small price to pay for efficiency. Two million people live on the island of Manhattan, which is approximately 11 miles long and 2 miles wide, necessitating the faster pace of life. While it'd be nice to have a pleasant chat with the young men and women who work at the grocery store, of greater need is getting in and out of there quickly. I wouldn't mind a slightly sunnier disposition, but having worked retail myself as a teenager I know better than to expect much.
April 20th, 2011 - 18:01
I vaguely remember reading or hearing or somehow coming across the idea several years ago that it isn’t so much that New Yorkers are rude as that the city has a certain bruskness, or briskness to it that dispenses of what people from smaller, slower places consider basic social niceties, and that once you start to adapt, you actually find this briskness quite refreshing in a way.
I have no idea of the truth or otherwise of that idea, but your post somehow reminded me of it.
April 20th, 2011 - 19:24
Chris, that’s exactly what it’s like.