Mannerisms replace manners

To the editor:

As a young boy growing up in southeastern Michigan I remember grocery shopping with my mother. I remember how important it was to put the cans and boxes on the counter with the prices up so the clerk could see them easily. When the clerk punched the shiny chrome total key that was as big as a hamburger bun, the register would rumble and the numbers rolled around behind the glass cover. With a final thump the price was shown for all to see. The clerk would say, "Three dollars and 47 cents please."

I remember the word please. When my mother paid the lady -- clerks in our small town were still ladies back then, likely something to do with some of the men lost in the war, (I was shopping in 1950) -- she would say "Thank you." When the transition was finished she would say "Thank you for shopping with us today," or "Come in again," or something that made us feel good. I remember those words today.

Fast forward to 2010. Today when I go through the fast-food restaurants at the north and south ends of Wellington and order something, the person on the speaker says "The total is four dollars and 37 cents, pull around to the window or first window."

Then when I'm at the window they say "Four dollars and 37 cents." I pay with $5 and when I'm given my change, the clerk says "There you go." This prompts me to say "Thanks." When I get to the second window for the food or I'm handed the food at the same window, the clerk says again, "There you go." Again I'm prompted to say "Thank you."

When I go to a store in town that I'll call a core store, (not fast-food stores) I pay for my purchase and the clerk might say, "Did you find everything OK?" followed by "Three dollars and 67 cents please." Then when I'm given my change, the clerk might say, "Thanks for coming in today," or something to make me feel as if I should come back to that store.

As I think through the differences between the core stores and the fast-food stores there is often only one obvious difference. The age of the clerk. The fast-food stores often employ younger window clerks than the core stores clerks. There is nothing wrong with younger clerks or young people at all. There is a difference in vocabulary. I wonder if the phrase "There you go," will replace the phrase "Thank you" in 15 years when young people work in the core stores like the shoe stores or car dealerships. Imagine paying $50,000 for your new Ford and the sales person hands you your finance papers and keys saying "There you go." If that happens, what will replace "There you go," at the fast-food restaurants?

Ed Love

Penfield