The store clerk asked the customer ahead of me the query we have all learned to expect:
"Are you a rewards member?"
He mumbled that he was not, as if there were some shame attached to it. Perhaps he'd applied and was turned down because he'd failed the background check.
"Would you like to become one?"
Here a fellow faces a choice: Sign up now and just get it over with, or hasten the end of this interaction by declining, even though it will make the rest of the transaction seem oddly frosty. You don't? Well, it's your life.
Now it was my turn. To save time, I said, "Hello! And no, I am not."
"Would you like to become one?"
"I would, some day, when I have been worn down by repeated requests and have become resigned to the inevitable, and give in with shoulders slumped and brow clouded with fatigue — but even on that day, I suspect my hand may waver at the last minute, a spark of rebellion will flicker in my breast and once again I push away your offer.