tangent.

Again, what I set out to write this evening quickly took a turn down a different path, but it was a delightful path, so I let it go there.  What I was thinking about writing while driving home this evening was how I feel like our closing announcements should be made in multiple languages.  So often we have people come in to the store who do not know English super well, and though they often bring a friend who can translate for them, that is not always the case.  On my way home I was trying to string together in my head the words that would be needed to have the closing announcement in Spanish to follow one in English.  I remember once when we were closing finding a Hispanic family in the store and telling them that we were closing -- or actually closed at that point -- and they were happy to go through the checkout, they simply did not realize, despite our announcements, that we were closed.  "Cerrado" a son translated for his mother.  "Si, estamos cerrado" I replied.

The announcement: "Hola clientes esta tienda está cerrando en diez minutos"... o, "hola clientes, esta tienda está cerrada. Favor de traer sus selecciones finales para el frente de la tienda donde los cajeros estarán encantados de ayudarle. Gracias, y tener una buena noche."

I figured out the first part on my own, but I got stuck on a few of the words and some of the phrasing in the rest.  I think that "esta tienda está cerrada" is probably the most important, anyway.  I got the rest from google translate, but I made sure to use English words that gave me Spanish words that I recognized.

I think what I was most grammatically unsure about was how to address los clientes.  I was personally considering a proper "you all" (or y'all, yes I do live in Texas...), you know, "ustedes".  Maybe something like "ustedes traen..." hence this next (and I personally think better) one:

"Hola clientes, esta tienda está cerrada.  Favor, van a la delantera de la tienda con las cosas que ustedes quieren comprar. Y como siempre, gracias ustedes por hacer compras con nosotros."

Bueno, necesito ir a la cama.  Buenas noches! or as google translate would say possibly more correctly(?)
Bueno, tengo que ir a la cama.
But maybe it's just a difference in preference.  Do I have to go to bed or do I need to go to bed?

And after all that, I bid thee good night.