Igbo at convenience store. Mon, Nov 27, 2006.

11/27/2006. 761. Still on my way towards home, I felt a "tug" to stop at a certain convience store. I thought I'd buy a paper, but they were out, so I made an impulse buy of something I could use or give away anyway.

The cashier was a dignified black man, wearing a sweater that looked of foreign origen, and he spoke with a dignified accent.

I said I didn't recognize his accent, and I asked where he was from. He said he was from Africa. I asked which country, and he said Nigeria. I asked if he was Igbo or Yoruba, and he said Igbo.

There were other customers behind me in line, so I shortened the conversation, and said I'd get something from my car and be back.

Murphy's Law again, as I didn't have my Book of Mormon inventory in my car. However, I did have an Igbo copy of the Prophet Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet. So I brought in that, plus the English, and got another custom-made pass-along card out of my wallet, along with my personal calling card.

I went back in, and got in line. There were several people ahead of me, and when it was my turn, there were at least a couple people behind me, so I wanted to make it short. He may have wanted to converse more, but I just presented the pamphlets and cards, and encouraged him to call the number on the pass-along card for an Igbo copy of the book. I even wrote "Igbo" in the blank upper-right corner of the card.

It definitely piqued his interested, and he would have chatted more, but I didn't want to tick off the other customers. I suppose I could have waited around until there was a lull in business.