Repetez si-vous plait?

Anyone else feel like they're repeating themselves?
Throughout this first month of college (the official anniversary was the 19th) I feel like I have had the same conversation with the vast majority of people I've met. Most go something like this:
Karis: Hey nice to meet you.
(Random Other Student): Nice to meet you too! My name is (Lizzie/Colin/Frederick/etc).
Karis: My name is Karis.
ROS: What?
Karis: Karis
ROS: Kare-iss/Karissa?
Karis: No, Karis like Car (makes steering wheel motions) iss.
ROS: Ohh Kar-is. Got it.(Cocks head, pretends to be interested) How is that spelled?
Karis: K-A-R-I-S
ROS: Oh. Thats a very unique name. Is that from anywhere?
Karis: Its the greek word for grace.
ROS: (failing to notice my pale skin, blonde hair, blue eyes) Are you greek?
Karis: No not at all.
ROS: Ohhh okay haha cool. So where are you from?
Karis: Minnesota.
ROS: OOOHHHHH MinnesOOOOOOOta YAAAAHHH you betcha!
Karis: Ha ha.
ROS: Y'know I don't even think I know where Minnesota is.

Yes. I'm serious. I have literally met 4 people (who were admitted to college) who don't know a state 300 miles away. Did they miss all of second grade? Just coast through with what their coloring grade got them?
Its a bit embarassing. Not going to lie.
But I'll be honest some state stereotypes are true. For one, I do speak with long O's and I am from Minnesota. Also, people from Wisconsin really do enjoy cheese. And people from California actually wear Hollister!
Speaking of clothing stores and conversations that lower my IQ...
I recently had an interview at a certain prominent teen clothing store that may or may not have been mentioned above. And it was slightly frustrating.
First of all, I already know I'm qualified for the job (and thats not bragging). The position I'm applying for requires me to fold clothes according to rigid corporate standards and greet every customer that walks through the door, saying: "Hey, what's up?"
Its not rocket science.
However, they take this role very seriously. After going through the usual interview questions (why would you be successful here? what do you think our main goal is? why do you want to work here?) me and the other five job-hungry 17-21 year olds were asked to pretend our interviewer was a customer and we should greet them with the tagline "Hey, what's up?". We went down the line.
The first girl (bless her soul) was a high school senior, never had a job before. Flustered at being the first put on the spot, she began laughing and burst out a loud and exaggerated "HEYYY WHATS UP?!?!?!?!" that echoed awkaredly down the cavernous mall hallway. The interviewer paused, smiled tightly and turned to the next person. The next one illicited a simple "Hey, what's up?" with a smile. Classic, simple, not bad. I did the same, but better (at least I thought). I just hope that my radiant smile didn't somehow give away the screams of my mind: THIS IS STUPID. I ONLY HAVE10,000,000,000,000,000 NEURONS AND SYNAPSES. DON'T WASTE THEM ON THIS. But I simply continued to grin and look friendly while silently shoving my intelligence into a dark locked corner of my mind. The next three got all fancy: "Hey whats up? My name is Tony/Ramona/Freddy and if you need any help finding what you're lookin for or got questions about clothes, life or whatever, don't hesitate to give me a yell okay? Oh and be sure to check everything out we have these new jeans in and they are really great so don't miss them, and make sure you check out our bodycare it smells real good. Oh and welcome to our store." By the time they finished that greeting the angsty-too-cool-for-you teen would have sent them a firy stink eye and moved onto the clearance section. And that was the end of our interview.
Its slightly frustrating to me that that is a seriously considered question, like really? My employment status is dependent on how well I can say three words and smile at the same time? Of course it is important in retail to make the customer feel immediately welcomed but can't it just be assumed that I'm capable of this simple task?
However, I really can't complain. I can lampoon and satirize this company as much as I want but they are the ones holding my future paycheck just out of my desperate reach. So hopefully my greeting was good enough to impress their Mighty Corporateness and the job requirement doesn't require knowing where Minnesota is. Oh wait. I would be fine, but I know some people who would be out of a job...

(NOTE* I got the job)