Fun talk

In my line of work, it is inevitable that I meet lots and lots of new people every day and sometimes, you get to have some really fun and interesting conversations with some friendly people. But sometimes, it can go the other way...

Today I had an interestingly peculiar one.

After giving the customer a carrier bag, I said to him ,"That bag's not very strong, I hope you haven't got far to walk."

He said, "Oh, that's very nice of you. No, not far at all. Would you like to escort me?"

Trying to recover, I replied, perhaps a bit too quickly, "Er, no thanks."

He said, "Heh, a bit too old for you huh?"

I said, "He.. he.. he..(a very uncomfortable laugh that indicates I don't know anything else better to say)", as he hastily grabbed his bag and half ran away from my counter...

The lady behind him looking amused, said, "Emm, I see you're being chatted up? Must be really flattering."

"Errr.....he..he.. he.. (again the same uncomfortable laugh)," was all I could manage.

When the lady had left the counter, I thought perhaps I really need to work on being 'tactful' at the right time and not blurt out "No thanks!" faster than lightning... I should have said "Oh as tempting as the offer is, I'm afraid I'm going to turn it down."

What do you think?

Nahhhhh.