A Different Atmosphere

The first big storm of the year has arrived. In fact it is almost over. I worked at the grocery yesterday and let me tell you people were stocking up ! It was a regular feeding frenzy. In addition to the staples eggs,bread,milk and toilet tissue we sold every snow shovel we had. The ice melt,curiously,didn't sell as well.
The topic of the day was naturally the weather. How much snow we would get and the apparent lack of global warming being the primary subject.
I have noticed that two subjects are always discussed when people meet and interact. The weather and their health. First comes the stating of the obvious, its' cold/hot outside. Usually  followed by an acknowledgement.
The other alternative is, how are you ? Usually followed by,fine thank you. I guess this is because there can be little argument with either topic. Discretion being the better part of valor.
Occasionally however you run into that individual that provides  too much information. It has happened to you I'm sure. And as the age of the person being asked increases, so does the likelihood of getting too much information. I think there is a logarithm associated with this phenomena but I'll leave that part to the mathematicians. I find it uncomfortable and embarrassing to discuss certain areas of the anatomy in a public setting. Little is not discussed in television ads but that is another topic altogether.
Another situation that occurs is that person that prolongs the conversation way beyond a courteous reply. Almost as though they have had no human contact in a long time. You know the type. After a while you get to know these people and try to avoid them. Probably the very reason they talk so much !
Then there is always the weather discussions. The telling of storms from the past and how brutal the conditions were. Last years blizzards and this past summers thunderstorms. The big ice storm a few years ago. And the old standby,when I was a Kid story ! How any of us survived those harsh conditions I'll never understand. Surely it was divine providence.
As a retail worker I do get amused by some of the things people will say to you. The snow is flying and conditions are getting worse yet you hear, the roads are really bad I don't know why anyone would be out ?
This comes from the person buying chips,dip and a two liter soda. Or you might hear, I wonder why they are closing the store early ? Guess they figure we live in the store so we don't need to drive home or anything.
I chuckle when I hear the complaint the shopping carts are wet when it is raining outside or they bring one in from the snow outside. Do people really think we should dry them somehow?
Working retail can be fun as long as you don't take it too seriously. The old adage you can please some of the people some of the time is certainly true. Weather days at the grocery can be trying to your patience. People have a tendency to be a bit frantic for some mysterious reason. It is definitely a different atmosphere,(no pun intended).