Observations: The Sequel
I have been randomly scribbling down notes, as I was doing before, but this time I actually remembered my notes, so I have a clearer idea of what I was thinking. Here are a few more observations I've made, mostly just stream-of-consciousness rambling, so it probably won't be structured as well as my blogs usually are.
It is apparently normal for women to have mustaches around here. I've seen some with full goatees, even, and it scares me. Women who look like men (or men who could be mistaken for women who look like men) are all over the place down here. I've avoided using "sir" and "ma'am" as much, unless I'm certain. As controversial as this may or may not be, I blame the fact that easily 99% of all people down here smoke like 4 packs a day (disclaimer: facts made up, possibly exaggerated, but in my eyes, it seems like a logical hyperbole). They've all gotten gross smoker's-wrinkles (as I've named them). You know what I'm talking about, how you can tell when someone has been a lifetime smoker since age 12. They look much older, much more worn than they should at their age. It's... disgusting to me... Even worse yet is that people around here seem to not realize clothing is meant to cover your body. It sickens me to even think of the total square footage of unwanted, uncovered skin I've seen, usually lower backs and stomachs hanging out, lots of old, gross cleavage, and a lot of mostly shirtless redneck guys, usually sporting the obligatory beer gut (apparently "no shirt, no shoes, no service doesn't apply here).
Another thing I've noticed is that people can't do very basic math as well around here. At my old store, there would be the occasion where someone would give me an extra dollar or something on accident when paying, usually because they stuck together or they didn't count it out. Here, at least once or twice a day, people will count out their money and hand me a completely wrong amount. The majority of these occurrences, people try to short me, sometimes a few dollars, sometimes an entire $20 bill. Sometimes, however, they count their money, then just give me a handful of half-wadded up bills, as if they tried counting, but couldn't do it on their own. This is behavior I'd expect from a small child, but these are grown adults (though with the mentality of a child, it seems).
I've also kind of noticed that a lot more people seem to ask me to repeat myself. I've always been a bit soft-spoken, but I still try to speak clearly enough. Oddly enough, I turned my observation around and realized that everyone seems to talk louder and slower out here. It almost makes me feel dumber when people look me in the eye and talk slowly and loudly, or rather, it makes me feel like they THINK that I'm dumber. I may not have the best hearing in the world, but it's not that hard to hold a calm-volumed conversation in a Wal-Mart check-out line.
Last observation for the night is much more light-hearted, and less insulting to those who may be in those previously mentioned categories. There are turtles EVERYWHERE down here. I'd say I have to avoid running over turtles 3 or 4 times on any average trip to work. I think they just walk back and forth across the roads around here. It's crazy how many turtles there are!
Now for a closing comment, which has nothing to do with anything else in this blog, but it's the funniest thing I think that's been said in the month and a half I've been down here. Today at work, one of the more attractive girls working there came through someone else's line. I told the cashier of that line "don't check her out, it's a trap!" as a joke. The attractive girl proceeded to say "It's true. I am a trap." Anime kids/4chan nerds, I'm sure you know why I find this funny. GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!
It is apparently normal for women to have mustaches around here. I've seen some with full goatees, even, and it scares me. Women who look like men (or men who could be mistaken for women who look like men) are all over the place down here. I've avoided using "sir" and "ma'am" as much, unless I'm certain. As controversial as this may or may not be, I blame the fact that easily 99% of all people down here smoke like 4 packs a day (disclaimer: facts made up, possibly exaggerated, but in my eyes, it seems like a logical hyperbole). They've all gotten gross smoker's-wrinkles (as I've named them). You know what I'm talking about, how you can tell when someone has been a lifetime smoker since age 12. They look much older, much more worn than they should at their age. It's... disgusting to me... Even worse yet is that people around here seem to not realize clothing is meant to cover your body. It sickens me to even think of the total square footage of unwanted, uncovered skin I've seen, usually lower backs and stomachs hanging out, lots of old, gross cleavage, and a lot of mostly shirtless redneck guys, usually sporting the obligatory beer gut (apparently "no shirt, no shoes, no service doesn't apply here).
Another thing I've noticed is that people can't do very basic math as well around here. At my old store, there would be the occasion where someone would give me an extra dollar or something on accident when paying, usually because they stuck together or they didn't count it out. Here, at least once or twice a day, people will count out their money and hand me a completely wrong amount. The majority of these occurrences, people try to short me, sometimes a few dollars, sometimes an entire $20 bill. Sometimes, however, they count their money, then just give me a handful of half-wadded up bills, as if they tried counting, but couldn't do it on their own. This is behavior I'd expect from a small child, but these are grown adults (though with the mentality of a child, it seems).
I've also kind of noticed that a lot more people seem to ask me to repeat myself. I've always been a bit soft-spoken, but I still try to speak clearly enough. Oddly enough, I turned my observation around and realized that everyone seems to talk louder and slower out here. It almost makes me feel dumber when people look me in the eye and talk slowly and loudly, or rather, it makes me feel like they THINK that I'm dumber. I may not have the best hearing in the world, but it's not that hard to hold a calm-volumed conversation in a Wal-Mart check-out line.
Last observation for the night is much more light-hearted, and less insulting to those who may be in those previously mentioned categories. There are turtles EVERYWHERE down here. I'd say I have to avoid running over turtles 3 or 4 times on any average trip to work. I think they just walk back and forth across the roads around here. It's crazy how many turtles there are!
Now for a closing comment, which has nothing to do with anything else in this blog, but it's the funniest thing I think that's been said in the month and a half I've been down here. Today at work, one of the more attractive girls working there came through someone else's line. I told the cashier of that line "don't check her out, it's a trap!" as a joke. The attractive girl proceeded to say "It's true. I am a trap." Anime kids/4chan nerds, I'm sure you know why I find this funny. GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!