Just nipped into a supermarket and a cashier I've never set eyes on before asked me this. I said politely "oh I can't tell you that" and thought she'd take the hint. But no.

"Oh so you can't tell me what you're doing this weekend".

"Correct"

FFS all I want to do is buy my groceries. It's nice to have someone pleasant - but just a please and thank you is fine. I don't want to share personal information with Woolies shop assistants I've never spoken to before.

How do other people react to these encounters?

The correct response to that question will depend on whether you're male or female.

I would probably have said something like 'oh just the usual stuff, housework etc' & hopefully that would suffice, no offence caused & nothing given away.

I imagine that they get a bit bored on the till all day, saying the same old crap, customer after customer & at least they were making the effort! Chill out!

Shock tactics are the answer.

I would simply have retorted with "Spank my monkey till my arm goes dead"...

Do you mean 'spanking my monkey'? Or are you inviting the cashier to spank it for you? Either way it's a good 'un!

According to daughter who is a check out chick at Woolies you gave the wrong answer. Had she got that reply she too would have followed it up. Had you just said 'usual' she would have left it at that.

I think I would have used the ambiguity to confuse her, compelling her to choose the correct response or face a moment of incredible embarrassment?

It's win-win for me either way....

You could always fix them with a slightly mad and very intense stare and say: "Do you know, I believe it will work!" Laugh maniacally and then pay with a blood stained $20 bill.

My daughter would love that. After a Sunday 8 hour shift she is able to remember damn near every conversation she's had with customers and recounts them over dinner. Some of them are hysterical

Take a chill pill! I confess when we first arrived I was a little startled by the personal questions/comments by cashiers - not just in supermarkets, but AusPost and any kind of shop. But now I find it friendly and sometimes very amusing. I quite like it that people aren't so uptight here and try to follow suit.

How (much) I respond varies.

yeah but it's all so false - and intrusive!

Intrusive how? She asked politely about your weekend, passing the time of day. If the question offends you so much tell her to mind her own business. False? Depends. Sometimes it's someone following orders from above, but most of the time is someone doing a relatively boring job and who is actually interested in chatting to the nice people coming through.

Agree with this 100%. Karma sent.

jeez!!! i think maybe you need chill out!
yes, the check out girl probably doesn't really give a damn what you are doing but it's just politeness, smalltalk -passing time in a less boring and more human way!

Should we all walk around and grunt at each other, spit the odd greeny out when someone does something we don't like??

Hmm when do you think it's appropriate for someone to speak to you then.

Aften 10 mins, 1 day... 1 week, 1 year ?



It's very easy to dismiss someone if you dont want to converse, but to actually complain about an approach seems slightly weird to me.

I wonder if most people from the UK think like this, I've been away so long I've forgotten.