Cashier peer pressure

John here ...

I know that I have the maturity level of a 15 year old. There is nothing that can be done to change it so why bother fighting it? I can hide it well when the moment calls for it but just know it is simmering at the surface.

Case in point.

Matt and I were at lunch the other day and after stuffing our immature faces with sushi and sweet and sour chicken, we did some shopping/strolling around Wegmans before heading back to work.

We picked up a few things - Matt some newly designed dark chocolate bar with antioxidants and me some vitamin the all-knowing Dr. Oz suggested - and headed to the cashier.

Matt was first in line and was greeted with a friendly face as his purchases slid down the conveyor

The cashier then innocently asked Matt is he wanted to donate a dollar to "blank" charity. Without thinking much of it, he mutterred "Nah, I'm good."

I completely lost it. Giggling like a schoolboy.

"Nah I'm good" sounded to me like the cashier was offering him a dollar and he was turning it down. I don't know if anyone else would have even given this a second thought, but my inner 5th grader couldn't let it go.

But then it was my turn to receive the offer and I began to panic. What is the correct response? There was a large crowd behind and all around us and I didn't want to piss anyone off.

Very quickly, I ran through all of the possible responses to the charity request:

1)"No thank you" - simple enough but again, I am not being offered the money so this doesn't really apply.

2)"Oh, I've previously donated" - that's great and noble, but we're talking a dollar here.

3)"Um sure, I'll donate" - but now "they've" won. I am only doanting because of peer pressure and that defeats the whole purpose of being charitable, doesn't it?

4)"Tell me more about how my dollar can make a difference" - OK, this was never really an option

5)"Mumble, mumble, no" - this was the winner!

I think there was some disgust from my fellow shoppers but we quickly bolted out of the store without looking back.

On the car ride back to work, I was still laughing thinking about "Nah, I'm good" and I'm still not sure if it is really all that funny but damn if it doesn't crack me up. I love those small and unassuming interactions that most people blow off or quickly forget. We can take those moments and overanalyze them for days. I don't know if that makes us keen observers or two guys who need to focus more on the important things in life.