A question about something somebody said

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hpunch
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08 Dec 2006, 4:06 pm

I was checking out of line at a store today.

The clerk said, "Have a nice day."

"Thanks. You too," I replied.

Then I walked away, and as I was doing so I overheard her mutter, "Talk to yourself."

I have some questions about that. Because it was a mutter, it took me a while to process what she said. Had I recognized it more quickly I might have said something like, "No, I insist, have a nice day!"

So here are my questions:

A. Is "Talk to yourself" simply a figure of speech? If so, what does it mean? Does it have something to do with a characteristic of mine, such as I didn't make eye contact with the clerk, or my saying "You Too" or "Thank you" was irrelevant?

B. Was she referring to her own probablility of having a stressful and busy day. This week is the end of the semester and the store was a used textbook store, so I can imagine they will have a lot of business. Personally, I don't want to hear the clerks muttering that they anticipate disliking their job, even if they do so out of what the think is the customer's earshot. It makes me feel like the niceness during the checkout was fake and that causes me to be distrustful of the store's practices.

Your replies would be appreciated.

And have a nice day. :)



keats
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08 Dec 2006, 4:37 pm

that's just odd, your response was entirely appropriate and pleasant.

Either you were dealing with someone who was acting out in some passive aggressive way (and don't even bother trying to figure out what you did -- that's her trip entirely!) or is possible she muttered something else? (Reason I ask is that I have cognitive auditory processing issues and my brain will randomly translate stuff I hear that's not quite clear into the closest thing that makes sense --and sometimes what I hear doesn't make sense).

Either way, I wouldn't worry too much about the clerk. You acted way cool.

And as for the auditory thing, unless you notice that people seem to be mumbling when there are other sounds present (i.e. noisy setting, any other sound, for example I lose a lot of words if my daughter is bouncing a ball when she is talking to me) or you hear people saying really odd things, then it's not likely that that was an issue here.

hope this helps.

-- keats



Corvus
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08 Dec 2006, 4:52 pm

Thats not a figure of speech, I dont know what it is.. I dont know what it could even be in reference to unless you didnt talk loud enough for her to hear it and she thought you were talking to yourself..

I have a friend who mutters all the time - drives me insane, especially since he seems oblivious to it. He'll make a comment on people he is with which is sometimes offensive to them. I've heard stuff and have called him on it and he just says "whoa what? I didnt say anything!" < -- everytime..

So, to answer your question, people who mutter are weird



Senti
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13 Dec 2006, 11:10 pm

Could it be a similer saying to "speak for yourself" ? That would make sence to me, but the way she said it, dosnt.



hell_grey
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14 Dec 2006, 3:53 pm

what you said was perfectly appropriate. maybe you spoke quietly and she couldn't hear you? either way, it was not the proper response from the clerk, and i would just ignore it. not worth your time.