Today was grocery shopping day.  Not my favorite thing to do, but a necessary one.  It’s okay.  With my list in hand, I am a driven woman to seek and conquer – filling my basket with the needed items and making it home asap.  I have been caught off guard the last couple of shopping trips while I am at the register.  At the particular store I frequent, the cashier has been asking, after greeting me, this question:  “Did you find everything?”  Of course, I say, “Yes, thank you.”  And I am sure most people say the same thing.  But one time, I really took the question to heart, thought about it, and answered honestly, “No, I didn’t.”  The poor cashier stopped scanning my items and froze.  She looked at me, dumbfounded.  I chuckled and said to her, “I bet you don’t get that answer very often.  So, now what?  What are you going to do about the item that wasn’t in the store?”  (I was being nice)  The poor thing replied, “Well, I don’t know!  They told us to ask customers that question, but they didn’t tell us what to say if you answered ‘no’ !!”  I laughed and told her that it was okay, I could live without that particular item.  The amusing part was that I caught her totally off guard and my answer was unexpected.  Everyone going through that check out line just says their hello and nods and pays and is on their way.

Every day we all get the same expected response when we ask people, “How are you ?”  And that answer is “Fine.”

“Hi!  How are you?”

“Fine!”

“How ya doin’?”

“Fine.”

“How’s your day going?”

“Fine.”

“Fine” is the expected answer.  If people answered honestly and told about how their dog died, or about their migraine, or the fight they had with their spouse, it would put a pause in you day as you tried to absorb this totally unexpected response.

My husband Ted is the king of the unexpected.  When people ask him how he is, the answer is not any benign “Fine,” it is:

“Hey Ted!  How are you?”

He answers, “Unbelievable!”

(I know – most of you reading this already knew)

But he answers with the unexpected.  He really has fun with it.  It makes some people laugh.  Others remain completely puzzled.  But for many, it breaks the monotony, gives their brain a little burst of thinking juice, and makes the conversation a little less robotic and more human.

I like the saying:  Expect the unexpected.  The online “Wiktionary” defines it as this:  To not be surprised by an unusal event. Anything could happen, and probably will.

I’m all for giving a different answer and stepping away from the usual!  Let’s have fun, people, and be unbelievable!  Step outside of the paradigm box of “fine” and be unexpected!

I was caught by the unexpected:

My daughter, Jillian, was chatting with me on Facebook when she copy and pasted a website for me to click on.  I expected it to be the next thing she had her eye on to buy (sorry Jilly !).  So I clicked and it was an Amazon.com listing for the book “Amanda, Perfectly Made” by Laurel Rausch Greshel.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!  omg omg omg  That was totally UNEXPECTED!   I mean – I should have expected it because publish date is nearing.  But (yeah, I have to say it) it was totally unbelievable to see.

Have an unbelievable Monday everyone – and expect the unexpected!

just Laurel