At the counter, the whole problem is speed.

Counter staff say the same sentences hundreds of times a day. Repetition wears words down. Do you want anything else with that becomes a blur with the shape of a question. Cash or card, having here or takeaway, do you need a bag, have you got a card with us. None of these are complicated. They are simply worn smooth and delivered at speed, over a machine, with a queue behind you providing the pressure.

Two things help more than anything else. The first is knowing what is coming. There is a short menu of counter questions, and once you have met each one a few times you stop decoding words and start recognising shapes. You hear the rhythm of the payment question and you answer card before the sentence has ended. The second is going first. If you open with a full sentence, hello, one flat white to take away please, you have already answered two of their questions and removed them from the exchange.

And when you miss it, use the one word that fixes everything: sorry. Sorry, again please. Nobody minds. Retail and hospitality staff repeat themselves for local customers all day long. You are not making a scene, you are having a normal transaction that needed one extra beat. The queue behind you is looking at their phone.