#al

In Paris the cashiers sit rather than stand. They run your goods over a scanner, tally up the price, and then ask you for exact change. The story they give is that there aren't enough euros to go around. "The entire EU is short on coins." And I say, "Really?" because there are plenty of them in Germany. I'm never asked for exact change in Spain or Holland or Italy, so I think the real problem lies with the Parisian cashiers, who are, in a word, lazy. Here in Tokyo they're not just hard working but almost violently cheerful. Down at the Peacock, the change flows like tap water. The women behind the registers bow to you, and I don't mean that they lower their heads a little, the way you might if passing someone on the street. These cashiers press their hands together and bend from the waist. Then they say what sounds to me like "We, the people of this store, worship you as we might a god. ↗

— David Sedaris

#cashiers #europe #euros #hospitality #japan

Love lasts because it changes and not because it stays the same and never faces any challenges. ↗

— Paulo Coelho

#change

Why is it that when one man builds a wall, the next man immediately needs to know what's on the other side? ↗

— George R.R. Martin

#a-song-of-ice-and-fire #curiosity #george-r-r-martin #tyrion-lannister #wall

Walls have ears. Doors have eyes. Trees have voices. Beasts tell lies. Beware the rain. Beware the snow. Beware the man You think you know. -Songs of Sapphique ↗

— Catherine Fisher

#people-will-hurt-you #rain #snow #walls #song

I've gotten really hot since you went blind. ↗

— John Green

#blindness #exageration #stars

What the hell do you want from me?” “Spontaneous combustion. ↗

— Poppet

#paranormal-urban-fantasy-romance #urban-fantasy

She tapped her chest. “No, I’m not a freak, okay, so could you stop pressuring me.” Rafael muttered something under his breath, throwing up his hands in surrender. “So what am I? What’s Karhl, Jayani, my brother, and all the BaSatai? Are we all freaks? Just because this human has some kind of fascination with labeling you, you believe in it. Be your own person, Armani, not what someone else says you are. ↗

— Suzan Battah

#romance #urban-fantasy-series #young-adult-urban-fantasy #urban-fantasy

I have some bad news. Bjork cannot be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her. ↗

— Jon Stewart

#political #comedy

Traded him for Alec," Clary said. "Not permanently" "No," said Jace. "Just for a few hours. Unless I don't come back. In which case, maybe he does get to keep Alec. Think of it as a lease with an option to buy." "Mom and Dad won't be pleased if they find out." "That you freed a possible criminal by trading away your brother to a warlock who looks like a gay Sonic the Hedgehog and dresses like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" Simon inquired. "No, probably not. ↗

— Cassandra Clare

#isabelle-lightwood #jace-wayland #mortal-instruments #simon-lewis #child

You can go other places, all right - you can live on the other side of the world, but you can't ever leave home ↗

— Sue Monk Kidd

#home #nostalgia #childhood