conversations.

I'm currently employed in an ice cream shop that is extremely customer oriented. I know that all stores are supposed to cater to the consumer, but where I work, we take it to a whole 'nother level. The moment someone walks into the door, a large chorus of, "Hi! Welcome to Coldstone!" echoes throughout the vicinity. We are encouraged to make as much small talk with the person as soon as they step close enough for us to speak to them without yelling. Usually it's questions like, "How's your day going?" or "Got any fun plans for the night?" Even as we're mixing their order up, we're gabbing away, "Would you like a waffle bowl or cone?" "How about some nuts with that?" "Man, I sure do love the smell of amaretto ice cream!"*

(* I actually said that to someone to fill the silence.)

So basically, if you hate speaking to peppy strangers, don't step foot inside a Coldstone.

But even though I'm talking to the customer, I never feel like I'm actually making conversation with them. Unless I've served a person more than once, they never realize that I'm basically asking the same questions and commenting on the same things over and over again. I've gotten better at just automatically spitting out words while making the customer think I'm actually engaging in a chat with them.

However, today was something different.

A couple walked in. They looked like an average couple. Both looked to be in their early 50's. The husband was wearing a shirt that he probably won at some state fair, the wife was dressed conservatively in a solid pink shirt and khaki capris. They stopped in front of the ice cream cooler and I started off on my usual barrage of talking, "Hi, welcome to Coldstone! Can I get you guys any samples? We've got the new Jello pudding ice creams in and Country Time Pink Lemonade sorbet!"

The man replied first. He wanted to try a sample of the chocolate Jello pudding ice cream and the watermelon sorbet, which I had suggested. His wife tried the amaretto. He decided that he wanted chocolate ice cream on the bottom and the watermelon on top in a nice large waffle cone. I ended up making the order a little too big and when I handed the cone to him, his eyes widened. "Wow, is this really a medium?" he exclaimed. I laughed, "It's just a little bit larger, my mistake. But in actuality, the medium sizes here are a lot bigger than people expect." He smiled widely and joked about walking out the door and getting arrested. His wife got a small amaretto with almonds in a cup.

When I started to ring them up, something strange started to happen: the customers and I actually began to have a conversation. He made some mention of how beautiful weather in Minnesota was and asked if Rochester was always like this. Of course, being a Midwestern, I'm quite learned in the art of talking about the weather and I replied, "We've got our ups and downs. Sometimes we get gorgeous days but other times it's absolutely dismal." Soon after we got to talking about the windiness of the morning and other occasions.

I asked them if they were from around the region and the woman replied that they were actually up from upstate New York. After a few more words about the similarities between the climates here and there, I asked them what they were doing in Minnesota. They explained that they had dropped their daughter off at the airport where she was flying to Israel for an archaelogical dig in an ancient palace and spontaneously decided to take three weeks off and just drive across the country.

I immediately expressed my jealousy for not only the daughter, but also their ability to just pack up and take a long road trip. Nearing the end of our conversation, he replied, "You know, you're a sweet girl!" I smiled and told them to enjoy the rest of their trip.

The only downside?

They didn't leave me a tip.