08 March, 2010

The Nicest Moment of My Life

I swipe cards at the dining hall. I'm sort of the backup cashier for when it's busy, and people aren't used to there being someone at my register. As you may know, normal people have a lot of trouble adapting to new situations, and would rather wait in line for five minutes at the main register than walk a few steps to mine. Sometimes when the main cashier is on break they'll just stand forlornly at her empty register, waiting for her to come back, as I frantically wave my hands to get their attention.

(One time this girl was waiting there and a guy with Down Syndrome, who also works in the dining hall, had the guff to talk to her--presumably asking if she needed help, or what she was doing there. She just shook her head as if she couldn't understand why he was talking to her. When she finally realized I was there she didn't even laugh or apologize like some people do; she just walked over and held out her card with the same expression on her face, probably thinking about how she's going to be president someday.)

Anyway, today a big crowd of people were clustering around the main cashier and one guy noticed me. He made his way over and we had the following conversation.

Guy: Are you open over here? Are you swiping cards?
AWV: Yeah.
Guy: Oh, so people are just being retarded.
AWV: (swiping his card) Yeah, pretty much.*
Guy: Or, I mean--they're being silly.
AWV: Oh, thank you for not saying retarded! You're great!
Guy: Yeah, I'm trying not to say it anymore.
AWV: That's so awesome. That makes me so happy.
Guy: Oh, well, I'm glad.

<33333

*I know, I know. It always sort of hits me, but I don't want to get in a fight; people just get pissed at you and don't care and tell you you don't understand language.

1 comment:

  1. And you might know that silly means happy, and happy is the emotion of the Gods.

    (At least the Greek and Anglo-Saxon gods. Very Dionysian kind of happiness).

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