Cheeky People

This morning I had to call the rent-a-car place to let them know we wanted to drop our car off at a different location than where we will pick it up. The last day or two the amazingly large amount of tasks left on out "to-do" list, coupled with extra irritable kids, etc. has left me anxious. Even hearing the automated menu selection from the UK Enterprise location stressed me out- the British accent was a reminder of how much we have left to do, and how much we'll have to figure out when we get there. Usually it makes me think of the adventure, in a good way, that awaits us.

After being put through to a man at the airport location and asking about our car drop-off, I explained that since we were moving there and the car was to hold us over until we bought one, I wanted to know what to do if we needed to extend our rental a few days. Then, bless his cheeky heart, he laughed and said, "You're moving to England! Now, why would you want to do that? Move all the way over here?" I told him he was sounding like my mother-in-law, and he laughed again and said, "I'm sure I am! (and then continuing on in what he thought might be an impression of what she would be saying) Moving all the way to England! Don't you know how dark and rainy it is there every day? Why would you want to go and do a thing like that?"

I felt better. There's nothing like a cheeky British person to remind me how much fun we'll have moving there. Here in the U.S. (especially here in Utah) everyone seems to have zero ability to understand sarcasm. Sarcasm is usually met with confusion. The only people who would banter with me in the U.S. instead of remaining very serious are my family, so the British Folks have already won me over there. Here are a few more of my encounters with The Cheeky for you to enjoy:

When we landed in London for our house-hunting trip, we had to fill out a card with our information to present at the booth where they check our passports. In the space for occupation, I had put "Super Mom". We filled the cards out on the plane, and by the time we were at the booth at the airport, I had forgotten what I had put. The lady at the booth looked over my card, and then got a half smile on her face, which she quickly turned back serious as she said, "Super Mom, eh? Maybe I shouldn't let you in after all. You might show the rest of us regular mums up, and then where would we be?" Now, if someone here in Utah had read that, they most likely would have looked confused and then asked me if that was some sort of day-care business I had started or something. Five bonus awesome points for the cheeky British Folks.

Later on our trip I went in to a Forever 21-ish style store to buy an umbrella. British Folks "queue" into one line, and then go from the front of the line to the next available register. From where I was standing, I could see a few younger girls and one older, white-haired, pot-bellied, bearded man behind the counter. I assumed he was the manager or something. When I got to the front of the line, no-one seemed to be across the counter from him, so when he glanced over I raised my eyebrows at him in an "Is it my turn?" look. I did this again with a head nod ('sup style head nod) and then asked, "Am I next?" He laughed and said, "Not unless you want your electricity worked on!" He was there working on a broken register. The girls behind the counter stifled their laughs. He then said with a twinkle in his eye, "The way you were looking at me I though you were going to ask me to coffee!"

I'm sure I'll have more stories as I go, don't worry.

So, I guess if I am ever feeling overwhelmed and anxious during the move, I just need to call England and wait for a cheeky person to cheer me up. God bless those cheeky British Folks!