I was at the grocery store the other day buying my weekly crap, and during the checkout process, the young man ringing up our junks was perusing the items we were buying... bratwurst, buns, an onion, a bell pepper, some beer. I guess he assumed some sort of event was taking place, so he says "So am I invited to the cookout?". Wow. Now, I think most people would probably just assume he was simply making small talk. I too, quickly drew this conclusion. But, what if I wrong? What if he truly wanted to come to my house and eat my groceries? What if his game was to ring up groceries all day and more or less ask each customer if he could go to their houses and hang out and have some food, just to see who would bite. What if he was just trying to push the envelope? What if he was running some kind of experiment to see how people would react when given something that could be read as small talk, or could be taken as a serious question. What if, on several occasions, someone said "sure, come on over!", and he went to their houses. By just letting this pass and not giving a definitive answer, what if he feels as though he has won this round. We all know how important having the upper hand is, and now this chump has it, possibly over every person that goes through his checkout facilities. DAMN IT!

So, when presented with his potential challenge, I went to my old standby. I said "hmmm... perhaps!" Ok, so what would be the worst thing that could happen if instead I said "Yes you are my friend." I suppose he could have then asked for my address, and later showed up with a weapon and tried to steal all my fancy shit or end my life. That seems unlikely. A little less extreme would be he shows up, hangs out, and eats my food. Either way, its a break from the norm, so what have I got to lose? If he tried to murderize me, I would reply with my shotgun. If he was really just hungry, perhaps I gain a new friend. Its win/win.

So what am I trying to say? Nothing really. I just thought it was interesting. I guess in the future, we should all consider not just taking the easy road. We should challenge ourselves to challenge others. Can anyone really afford to let someone else have the upper hand? I think not.

Phucket