"To Ignorance and Beyond!!!"

[Whidbey78]

This is funny, yet sad.

My wife and I were in line at Wally World today and witnessed not one, but two prime examples of..well, I haven't quite found the word that best describes it. Ignorance and stupidity are just not sufficient. Here's what happened:

As I said, we were in line at the register at Wal-Mart in a small college town. There were two people in front of us. The lady at the front of the line was making small talk with the cashier, an attractive young woman with fair skin, brown hair, and bright blue eyes. She was a college student I suspect from both her age and the fact that the college is about the only reason a woman her age would have to live there. The lady, adjusting her glasses and obviously studying the cashiers nametag, says to our young cashier, "Oo-tum? Atom? Is that how you pronounce your name?"

She replied, very politely, "No Ma'am, it's Autumn." (And yes, it is spelled the same as the season.)

"Oh, I see. Is that an English name?"

"Well, I'm not really sure."

The lady pressed on. "What is your last name?"

"Johansson," she replied.

"Oh, so you're Scandanavian then! That explains the unusual spelling of your name."

Politely, Autumn responded, "No Ma'am, I'm of German ancestry. My husband's family is from Norway and Sweden, mostly, but I don't know where the name is from."

The lady was now a bit embarrassed, maybe slightly confused, and took her change and quietly left.

The whole time my wife is very, very quietly telling me "Allen, don't say a word. Stay out of this." I can't help but say something when someone says something so blatantly...well, I still can't find the right word.

The next person in line, immediately in front of us, was a large gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair. He said, after the lady was out of ear-shot, "Can you believe some people's ignorance?"

Autumn, trying to maintain her professionalism, said "It takes all kinds I guess."

Then the man says, very loudly (no joke), "I can't believe she thought you were a Scandanavian. You're obviously white!!!"

At this point my wife yelped "We need...um...mayonaise!!!" and literally drug me by the sporran strap away from there before I could say anything.

[Jock Scot]

What a wise lady your wife is!

[Whidbey78]

What a wise lady your wife is!

You have no idea how much trouble she "helps" me avoid.

[JelicoCat]

Perhaps if the cashier's name was Summer, she would have thought the cashier to be Pacific Islander.

[macshorty]

LOL!!
This is hysterical. I'm glad I wasn't there, because I probably would have started rolling on the ground in uncontrolled fits of laughter.

[thescot]

Perhaps if the cashier's name was Summer, she would have thought the cashier to be Pacific Islander.

Or Sumerian.

[JelicoCat]

Or Sumerian.

[O'Callaghan]

Or Sumerian.

Wouldn't that make her an Iraqi, or Iranian perhaps? Well, either that or a few thousand years old!

[Heming]

I thought everyone knew Scandinavians are translucent pink, not white. I'm sure that's what he meant...

[Whidbey78]

I thought everyone knew Scandinavians are translucent pink, not white. I'm sure that's what he meant...

My neighbor is full Swede and says that he gets a sunburn just by watching CSI Miami.