Thank you, have a good day

In the US, people ususally say "Thank you, have a good day!" to the bus driver when people get off a bus. It is so easy for a person who does not stutter. However, such a simple sentence proved to be so hard for me, a person who stutters. I remembered that many times the sentence just stucked in my throat. I feel helpless to get the word out.
During the recent months, I force myself to say the sentence whenever I get off the bus. At first, it is hard. There were times that I started to say the sentence when I was getting off the bus. I could only get the sound out after I get off the bus. The several seconds delay seems small. However, the lack of spontaneous response totally chang the situation. It would be appropriate when I have the spontaneous, however, it become funny with the several seconds delay.
The situation becomes better and better with practice. Now, I still feel a little lock up of my speech, I do not have much delay when I greet the bus driver. Sometimes there are dellays, but only a fraction of a second. Keep the good work, I will be free fo blocks in this situaton.
I have conqued many situations this year, such as telephone calls, ordering food in a resturant, small talks in a bus or bus stop. The next obstacle to attack is that to talk to a people who's attention is not on me.