Since the demise of my local 99 Store, I have been going to the new Lawson Store 100, near Kurokawa station, to get my milk, juice, yogurts etc. More-or-less everything in the store is 105 Yen, so it’s pretty good for basics.
Anyway, there’s this old guy in there who just cracks me up! He speaks A LOT! And he’s now under the impression that I understand him, because I caught a couple of words and responded correctly one time. Here’s how a typical visit to the store goes…
I walk in, to a chorus of “irashaimase!” (“welcome!”) from all of the staff, of which his is by far the loudest. This is normal in Japan, but his call is so loud, that it did make me jump the first couple of times.
If I pass him as I’m browsing the shelves, he repeats his “irashaimase” or a kind of shortened version of it. I wonder if he’s from Nagoya, or perhaps from some other part of Japan, as his Japanese sounds kind of different to the Japanese I’m used to.
I go to pay, with a basket full of fruit juice, yogurts, and various other goods. It’s a full basket – basically my ‘weekly fridge shop’. Lawson Store 100 Man begins speaking to me in super fast Japanese. I can’t tell if it’s super polite Japanese or super casual, but either way I can barely catch a word. He’s commenting on the contents of my basket, I imagine he’s saying, “Ooh, what a lot of fruit juice! Ooh, you like orange flavored yogurts don’t you? Ooh, 5 of those!” or something like that.
So he’s jabbering away at me, “japanesejapanesejapanesejapanesejapanese” and occasionally I catch a word… “japanesejapanesejapaneseIRASHAIMASEjapanesejapanese” (someone new must have entered the store) “japanesejapanesejapaneseARIGATOUGOZAIMASHITAjapanesejapanese” (someone must have left the store) “japanesejapanesejapaneseORENJIJUICEjapanesejapaneseYOGURUTOjapanesejapaneseSPOON!” “Erm…” I say. He asked me something about spoons but I wasn’t listening. He repeats, “Iremasuka? Spoon? OK?”. Ah… do I want a spoon. I think he wants to give me a spoon for every yogurt I’m purchasing. “Ii desu!”, I reply. “No spoon? OK!”, he says. Hold on, is he speaking English? Or Japanese? He’s muttering something. “Jyouzu, jyouzu… nihongo…”. Ah, he realised I spoke some Japanese. I have to deny his compliment (he’s saying I’m good at Japanese and in Japan one should deny such a compliment). “Iie” I say. “Sukoshi”. (No, only a little.) “Ah…” he says. “sukoshi. Jyouzu, jyouzu. Good-o!” There he goes again. English. So I venture, “Eigo o hanasemasuka?” (“Do you speak English?”). “Ah…” he replies. “Eigo! Eigo! jyouzu, jyouzu”. The conversation is lost once again. My bags are packed and I’m ready to leave. I’m laughing and smiling. He’s still jabbering away. I’ve seen him like this with old ladies, too. I think he just likes to chat. As I pick up my bags to leave he says “sankyuberimachi!”. Bless. [Say it out loud if you don't get it!]
If I need a pick-me-up I think I will be visiting Lawson Store 100 to chat with Lawson Store 100 Man, even if I don’t understand half of what he’s saying! Maybe this is a good way to learn! 
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Sounds like a fun person! Maybe he’s counting your items and naming them as he goes? The cashier at a 100 yen store in Asakusa did that when I shopped there. It was just dumb luck that I realized what she was saying since I can barely count to twenty and I am completely helpless with quickly-spoken Japanese!
She also made a few comments to her co-worker, undoubtedly about the ridiculous number of items that I had. I was a little embarrassed about such a large purchase, but they had so many cute bento supplies that I just can’t get in the States! It just wasn’t my fault.
I didn’t know the word “sukoshi,” but I am now intrigued by a random coincidence. If the “u” is kind of squished, making the word sound a little like “skoshi” then it’s a lot like the idiom “a skosh” (long o sound) that some English-speakers use to indicate a small amount. Hmm.
Hope your finger is feeling better!
He would probably work for free if they let him because chatting away is probably worth man than gold to this guy.
His wife died and the kids moved away
or
His wife stopped talking to him years ago (so it’s like she’s dead…to him anyway) and maybe they never had kids?
Either way….sounds like dude is loving his job!! Good for him and good for you
The same thing happened to my local 99 shop as well. I think that Lawson’s bought them out (or already owned them and just operated under a different brand name). It’s pretty much the same place with the same prices and content. The one near me just got cleaner though and has less crap blocking the aisles.
My local clerks, are not chatty. They are, on many days, in need of some lessons in basic hygiene (both oral and bodily), :-p