lest you think chelley's the only talented conversationalist

at barnes and noble:

cashier: oh, is this book for donation?

me: yes, all of them are

cashier: oh! that's so wonderful! you're such a nice person! literacy is so important.

me: yes it is. this is my favorite thing to do at Christmas.

cashier: i'm so glad you came through my line. [seeing that one of the books was on johan santana] oh, and it's so sad that we might lose him!

me: i know! and really, it's more than likely that we will lose him.

cashier: he's such a nice person. and after we lost torii, too.

me: yeah, that's the one that made me really sad. i try not to think about it.

cashier: i know. that's a real loss. i don't know what we'll do without him.

me: hopefully we'll get someone good.

cashier: we have to think positive.

[and then she was done ringing me up]