"Oh".

By this time next week, I will be relaxing at my Dad's house, listening to my siblings bicker about who is meaner to whom, and enjoying the fact that I'm home. I can't wait! I'm looking forward to being in familiar surroundings where I'm not constantly cold (I can't seem to get warm here because of the humidity) and where people say "please" and "thank you".
We still can't get over the rudeness of the people here. I confronted one of the cafeteria cashiers recently because all year I have said thank you to her whenever she scans my card. She doesn't look at me, doesn't even acknowledge that I exist when I say it. It's been a major bone of contention for me, not because she ignores me, but because the simple act of saying "thank you" is so completely lost on her. You would think that saying "you're welcome" to someone who thanks you would be ingrained into her head as a normal part of societal niceties. Apparently not. So, one day a week or so ago, I had had enough. I was tired of saying "thank you" and not receiving the affirming response I felt I deserved (call me selfish). I handed this woman my card, she scanned it and handed it back to me (all without ever looking at me once) and I said "thank you". Again, no response. So I stop, instead of my usual moving on to gather tray and silverware, and say to her,
"Typically, it is common courtesy to say 'you're welcome', when someone thanks you". At this point, she looks at me as though she had never seen me before and starts to get rather flustered and looks a little angry. I'm actually pretty happy about this because I know now that she is human, which up until that point I had been unsure of. So I'm waiting for her response, which as we all know, Michigan students all have an opinion about something, so this would have to be good...right? She says "oh", and goes right back to scanning cards of the people coming in behind me.
That was it. No verbal sparring, no righteous indignation, nothing. I was a little disappointed, but in retrospect, what else could she say? Other than "sorry" which I don't think would have been honest, I guess that the only thing she could say to me was "oh".
I have noticed that since this happened, she has been better about saying "thanks" when I hand her my card and "your welcome" when I say thank you. Progress? Maybe. Not wanting to be called out again on her rudeness? More probable. But I'll take what I can get.