So It Is Kind of A Funny Story: The Checkout Clerk at Coles

I was Coles (which is a common grocery store in Sydney) and as I was at the checkout line I must have looked like a foreigner because the clerk asked me where I was from. I responded with a smile that I was from California. The clerk lit up and he got big eyes that exuded pure excitement. He said, I looooove the song “California Girls” by Katy Perry. I laughed as I wondered if his notion of American girls, particularly girls from California, was based entirely on the lyrics of Katy Perry’s ridiculous song. Then he started singing the tune, “Ca-li-fornia girls…we’re unforgettable….Dai-sy Dukes…bikinis on top!…”

I didn’t know exactly how to respond, but he said he would love to come to California to meet all of the California girls. Then he asked if I had seen the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House yet. I said no, because I didn’t know how to get there. He quickly gave me directions, as I was clearly holding up the checkout line, and he exclaimed as I left,

“Good luck California girl! Enjoy Sydney!”


After this unexpected conversation, I decided two things:
1) I had to go see the Bridge and the Opera House now that I knew how to get there!
AND
2) I would desperately try to make a positive impression on Australia and prove that Americans are much more complex than the lyrics of Katy Perry’s song.