May 18, 2012
First Landing State Park (see more about this on my other blog "You Went Where?")
Planned departure time 3:00 p.m.; actual departure time 5:45! Here's why:
I left the shopping for Friday so that everything would be fresh. I've had too many camping trips where I've purchased the fruits and veggies a couple of days ahead, only to have to throw away part (or all) of something because it has gone bad in the meantime. Since I worked closing shifts on Wednesday and Thursday nights, I couldn't load the car until Friday anyway. It should have been easy - I had a list and a plan. Fresh to Frozen first to pick up whatever they had that was on my list, Costco to get those specific items and fill up the tank, Martin's to get the cupcakes I ordered, then WalMart to finish it all off. It really shouldn't have taken more than a couple of hours.
Well, F2F and Costco went as planned, then the trouble started. On Tuesday, I had placed an order for two dozen mini cupcakes at Martin's Harbor Pointe location. I wanted half of them yellow cake and half devils food. I wanted half iced with yellow frosting and half with green. And I wanted to pick them up at another location. This is not a difficult order. The woman helping me was the Assistant Bakery Manager, so I had every confidence that this would be handled correctly. Plus, I watched her write the whole thing down on a production order form - everything was right, including the store where I wanted to pick them up. Great! But apparently, once I walked away, instead of placing that order form in the appropriate slot to go to the production facility, she called the order in to the store where I planned to pick up the order, so they could write the order and sent it to production. And she got it wrong! She ordered 1 package of mini yellow cupcakes (12) and 1 package of devils food cupcakes (6). They got the icing right, at least.
So . . . I went to one Martin's to pick up my order, went to the Martin's where I placed the order to complain, then to WalMart. At WalMart, I didn't find the Baby Cuties that we wanted and they were out of steak rolls. So then, back to Martin's to pick up the remaining mini cupcakes that they were able to wrangle up for me, stop at the next WalMart to get my rolls, then finally back home. My two-hour shopping trip took four hours. I got home around 2:30 - nothing packed, nothing ready, and a two-hour drive ahead of me. As a result, I forgot extra batteries, towels, something to sleep in, and a jacket. Oh well, every camping trip is an adventure, one way or another!
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sometimes I Just Can't Believe . . .
I have the pleasure of being a leader to a wonderful group of 6th-9th grade girls. I do this because I enjoy teaching, and I wanted to have some input in my daughter's scouting experience. Now, perhaps I'm expecting too much, but I'm often surprised at the things they don't know. Most recent: Where do eggs come from? Did you know if you drown in water you can die? Potatoes grow underground? I am glad they're asking the questions, because that enables me to teach them things; things that they evidently aren't learning elsewhere.
Of course, it's not just the girls. I encounter similar things from seemingly intelligent adults, and adults are more difficult. One wants to be able to share knowledge without making others feel that you're a know-it-all or that you find them stupid, ignorant, or otherwise lacking. One time during my employment at a pet shop, I had a customer who was interested in buying a large snail for his aquarium. The snails were on sale that week, and I spent a fair amount of time answering his questions about care and feeding, etc. I thought I had the sale wrapped up when the customer blew me away with his next question: "Where do I get a new shell for it when it grows out of the one it's in now?" So I explained how this actually worked, bagged him a snail and sent him on his way. I found this funny, and decided to share the laugh with my fellow employees. They didn't see the humor in it. I had to explain to them where the shells come from. Oooohhhh! they said. I asked where they thought they came from. "Well, from the ocean, like rocks." Obviously!
And then there's retail sales. "Buy one, get one free" does not mean that if you only buy one it will be half price. Those deals are priced "2 for $x". And if you buy 5 pounds of apples priced at $1.79/pound, you're going to pay almost $10. Oh, and those salad bars where you pay by the pound? Listen up people - if your salad is heavy, it's going to be expensive! Because they're priced by the pound . . . get it? Here's another thing - $4.99 is not $4, it's $5. Because we do understand that 99 cents is only a penny away from a dollar, right? I'm amazed at the number of people who are surprised to find that a five isn't enough money to pay for their $4.99 item after tax.
OK, I'm ranting, I think. But here's my point - let's all try to think a bit more. And as parents, our job is to teach our children to think. They aren't all the same, and they don't all enjoy the same things, or have the same abilities, but if we teach them to think, they will have a skill they can use anywhere for the rest of their lives.
Of course, it's not just the girls. I encounter similar things from seemingly intelligent adults, and adults are more difficult. One wants to be able to share knowledge without making others feel that you're a know-it-all or that you find them stupid, ignorant, or otherwise lacking. One time during my employment at a pet shop, I had a customer who was interested in buying a large snail for his aquarium. The snails were on sale that week, and I spent a fair amount of time answering his questions about care and feeding, etc. I thought I had the sale wrapped up when the customer blew me away with his next question: "Where do I get a new shell for it when it grows out of the one it's in now?" So I explained how this actually worked, bagged him a snail and sent him on his way. I found this funny, and decided to share the laugh with my fellow employees. They didn't see the humor in it. I had to explain to them where the shells come from. Oooohhhh! they said. I asked where they thought they came from. "Well, from the ocean, like rocks." Obviously!
And then there's retail sales. "Buy one, get one free" does not mean that if you only buy one it will be half price. Those deals are priced "2 for $x". And if you buy 5 pounds of apples priced at $1.79/pound, you're going to pay almost $10. Oh, and those salad bars where you pay by the pound? Listen up people - if your salad is heavy, it's going to be expensive! Because they're priced by the pound . . . get it? Here's another thing - $4.99 is not $4, it's $5. Because we do understand that 99 cents is only a penny away from a dollar, right? I'm amazed at the number of people who are surprised to find that a five isn't enough money to pay for their $4.99 item after tax.
OK, I'm ranting, I think. But here's my point - let's all try to think a bit more. And as parents, our job is to teach our children to think. They aren't all the same, and they don't all enjoy the same things, or have the same abilities, but if we teach them to think, they will have a skill they can use anywhere for the rest of their lives.
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