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This occurred on a weekend morning, and I found myself grumpy enough, refueling my mother's vehicle. This was a typical gas station that doubles as a supermarket, meaning there's a chance of joining a queue people bearing baskets of somewhat expensive items. This is a dreadful thing to occur when all you want is to pay for some fuel. Terrible.

I was fourth in the queue. There was only cashier operating, a female attendant. A peculiar quality about her. When the faffer at the front of the queue had finally paid for a cleaning product, his sausage roll, and his box of eggs, It seemed to me overhearing the cashier wish him an excellent day. Strange. Perhaps I’d misheard, or maybe she did say it and was being sarcastic. I wondered if she could even be a comrade in my fight against faff, echoing my disdain for people who hold up simple fuel-buyers including me.

I moved up, becoming the third customer. The next shopper of the queue finished pumping gas with notable efficiency. And there it was again: “I hope you have a fantastic day.” In fact, it was “enjoy a truly great day”. An American? In Stourbridge? She had the accent, and few locals tells people those exact words, or even just a nice day. Very rare. It's uncommon to find US citizens frequenting this area, and definitely not working in petrol stations or other places.

Now I stood second. Behind a poor older woman dealing with a right old battle with her basket, her groceries, her purse and her rewards card. This took an eternity. When she was done, the woman also was wished an excellent day. Definitely from the US. Confirming it was possible by cracking a joke in her direction, to check for that response their typical stare, unsmilingly, and say with absolute sincerity: “That’s really funny.” Yet no idea came of anything hilarious to utter.

In the end, I embraced for the absolute sincerity – or a mimicry of sincerity, that equates to no different – while she stared directly into my eyes, deep into my soul, and told me to have a great day. I felt better for it. A positive experience.