would you like paper or plastic?

in line at the grocery store this afternoon, i managed to expel just enough pitiful sound to make the check-out clerk realize that i really wasn't capable of speaking or carrying on a conversation. but instead of just efficiently scanning and bagging my groceries, he took this opportunity to have a one-sided conversation with me (probably to hear his own voice, or maybe because he feels it's his duty to entertain the customer). at one point he told me a really bad joke that "a veterinarian had told him earlier that morning." oh, the irony. (wait, is that irony? i'm never sure. alanis morissette and miss fisher made me question it all and i never quite regained my bearings)