The SO, Z, and I are going on vacation. We are going to a place where we will be riding the subway. Z is excited about this. She was even more excited when I explained that we weren’t refering to the restaurant chain. We live in the Midwest, what can I say?
She likes to talk. She particularly likes to go up to total strangers and tell them her life story. Since the story always includes, “…and this is Heather. She’s not my mom. She’s my dad’s friend…” I would like her to stop. I really don’t want her sharing her whole life story with everyone on the subway as she would be wont to do. New people get on at every stop. She’d have to tell it again… The SO wholeheartedly agreed that we need to stop this behavior before the trip.
We decided to do some preemptive training. This weekend we were checking out at Walmart. She started in as soon as the clerk looked at us. “Hi, I’m Z! I like to play the claw machine game but my daddy said that he doesn’t have money.” I stopped her right there.
“We don’t have to tell everyone everything. We can leave her alone to do her job without interruption.” That was a fine explanation and Z readily accepted it. All would have been fine but at the same time I was hearing this:
“It isn’t that I don’t have any money but I don’t have any change, you see.”
I swiveled to look at the SO prattling away to the clerk who was so not interested in what either one had to say. Come to think of it I’ve never been in a checkout line where he hasn’t chatted up the cashier. It must be genetic!
Z looked at him and said, “Daddy? I think we are just supposed to talk to each other in line.”
