You readin' a blog?

So, here’s the deal.  I walk into my local barber shop the other day.  It’s a chain barber shop with stores across the city and around the country as well.  I walk in and I am met with their usual greeting.  The lady met me at the front counter and said, “Hello, how can we help you today?”

Really?  “How can we help you?”  This is a barber shop.  They don’t do anything other than what the sign says . . . they cut hair.  What else am I going to be coming in there for?

“Um, yeah, I’d like a large pepperoni pizza and an order of breadsticks.”

“Yes, thank you. I need to see someone about diversifying my investment portfolio.”

“Is the priest in now or do I need to make and appointment?”

Come On! . . . 

     “I would like to receive a hair cut please, kind lady, and I have come prepared to pay the asking price.”  Is this type of formality really required for this transaction to happen?

My barber shop isn’t the only place in town where obvious questions are thrown around on a daily basis.

My wife, our daughter and I walk into most any restaurant and this is what we typically get from the greeter:  “So, there will be 3 of us for dinner tonight?”

“No.  Only 2 of us tonight. We’re gonna have the little one just stand and watch.”

Another regular phrase we hear is:  “So, will we be needing a children’s menu this evening?”  

“No.  Actually, the little one here is gonna have the ‘Double Meat Trucker Special’ . . . and could you bring her the largest container of Coffee that you have?”

Come On!  

I think its a safe bet that anyone under 7 is going to be needing a children’s menu and will probably be ordering some form of Mac N’ Cheese.

I’m not even going to get into the phrase, “WE” when said by someone who actually will not be joining us.  It can be “we” if by “we” you mean that “you” are contributing toward “our” check.  Otherwise, No “we”.

I’m giving these people a hard time, but we all do it.  We all find ourselves asking the most obvious questions.  I’m not sure why, but it just happens.

You see a friend at the grocery store and you hear yourself ask, “So, . . . you doin’ a little shopping?”  -- No, I’m actually following you and I’m surprised you’re just now seeing me.

You see a friend coming out of the movie theater and you just can’t stop yourself from asking, “So, you see a movie tonight?”  -- No, we just come here for the long lines and reasonably priced snacks . . . they have movies here?

I’m not sure why we do this, but the truth is - we all do it.  

We are all guilty.

All of this talk about obvious questions really makes me wonder.  It makes me wonder about a lot of things.  Actually . . . right now, I’m wondering about you.

What I really want to know is:  

                                         “So . . . you readin’ a blog?”

JJ