Like most guys I hate shopping. I don't mind wandering around looking at various items or spending time trying to locate the elusive part that I need- its people that frustrates me. As Linus from Peanuts said "I love mankind! It's people I can't stand!"
Before you jump to the conclusion that I contradict myself because I help people- let me explain. Today I ventured to Wally World to pick up some groceries and household items. I figured I would avoid the rush of people by going at two in the afternoon because people would be working and kids would still be in school.
Wrong.
There were shopping carts and scooters everywhere. Around every corner I encountered at least two carts and their attached human counterpart. I don't mind shopping carts - I mind them blocking the aisles. Almost every person I encountered seemed pissed and inconvenienced when they finally moved their cart to let me pass by. I began to rethink the milk and bread I had ventured out for and headed to the checkout line.
As I stood in line to check out I found myself behind a younger woman and two young kids, a boy and a girl. The girl was safely corralled in the cart staring blankly at the clerk. The boy was running back and forth from the cart to the racks that lined the aisle picking up various candy and demanding that the apparent caretaker to buy it. The caregiver probably couldn't hear him as she visited with someone on her cell phone regarding a late bill. The clerk told the woman the total due and patiently waited for payment. I felt sorry for the clerk that stood there- barely a thought to the woman on the phone. The triad eventually left with the boys voice eventually being drowned out by the chatter of other people.
As I placed my items on the conveyor belt i asked the clerk how long she had worked at Wallys for. She replied that she had been there seven years. When I asked if she enjoyed it and she replied- most days.
Most days- yes I can understand that, especially when dealing with people.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yes, shopping is nothing short of torture sometimes, especially the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I usually shoot for the 11-noon period to get my stuff hoping to beat the lunch rush. Wal-mart still has plenty of people in the store. What gets me worse than the rude people is the fact that out of the 20+ checkout lines only 2 are open so you have to wait behind 6 people to pay for your goods. One of the reasons I really like self-checkout businesses. Less people I have to deal with.
ReplyDeleteRandy- I found that the best time to go shopping is at three-four in the morning. There aren't a lot of people out at that time in the morning and you have tons of room to maneuver about. The only downside- it very early or late depending on how you look at it. As for the self checkouts- I hate them. I tried it once but screwed it all up so I vowed never to use them again.
ReplyDeleteBeagle G.,With a little polishing I believe you could write short stories for childrens' books.I have my own idea of the scene at Wally.I love to shop.We lived in so many little towns I learn to appreciate a store that had aisles and people.There were no lines in Geyser and I never had a hard time finding the car in the Lima store parking lot.It's nice to buy the items you want instead of dusting off the lid to find the expiration date on a brand you've never heard off.I'm not sure if they even had childen in those towns.I spent more time trying to get away from the coversation of a lonely clerk than I do standing in line at Wal-Mart Christmas season.Those folks should learn to cut hair.As a side note,some barbers don't leave alot of hair when they get involved in a good conversation,either.I won't even talk to them in the winter.Just Hi.Do you ever notice that door alarm at Wal-Mart going off? I think that's the self check out folks.It's like a cop giving you a ticket when you are in a hurry.I always have produce anyway,but the self checkout is scarey to me.
ReplyDeleteYou guys just need some training. Be thou not afraid of technology. A little patience and willingness to follow the on-screen instructions is all that is needed. I absolutely love self-checkout.
ReplyDeleteLike my nephew, I grew up in a small town and am used to small town stores. I like it best when I and the lonely clerk are the only two in the store. I much prefer blowing the dust off the top of a can of brand x corn to buying anything from Sam Walton and his billionaire children who have never worked a day in their lives unlike the children in Southeast Asia who work to produce the crap they sell in Wal-Mart. I don't go to Wal-Mart, I don't know where anything is at Wal-Mart and I'm not going to read the directions so I can give someone my money. With that off my chest, however, I must step back and pause before beginning my chat about the shopping cart clogging up the aisles as I'm trying to maneuver. If you know me, you undoubtedly know that this would be one of my all-time pet peeves. But now I shop with Grandpa and he runs the cart so you know what...we are now the ones who are always clogging up the aisles. The shoes fits more comfortably when you are the one wearing them.
ReplyDeleteMy experience would go like this.Sorry,we don't have any corn until I can get to Wal-mart and restock my shelves.
ReplyDeleteAs I remember back, the lonely clerk was Beagle's grandma. First, she worked at R&H Grocery and later at Van Dyke's. Nephew David was a good friend with Beagle's grandma when they worked together at the grocery store at the end of Main. My barber Ernie's wife was the lonely clerk at Model grocery. There's something to be said for the clerks of old who needed to be talented enough to actually input the prices into a cash register rather than just scan products. I also remember how they used to put everything into boxes -- there were no plastic bags. And the paper bags were only to wrap up your ice cream before it went into a box. We shop at Central Market now and buy our beef at Butcher Block. The gal who generally checks us out at the grocery stores is a gal my age. On these cold winter days, none of the high school kids want to work at the registers in front of the sliding glass doors, but this gal will. That's good enough for me...I'll even wait in line a little longer just so she can scan my groceries. She's gotten a little older over the years since Belinda and I came to town, but I like the fact that she has a job and I'm helping her keep it. Who knows, maybe someday she'll be someone's grandma.
ReplyDeleteI remember working at Van Dyke's. I had to price things with a sticker gun. I could price 12 cans of soup in about 5 seconds. Everyone had time to stop and say hello, Those wre the days. I worked with some great people. Including Beagle's Grandma Eva.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah Dave? I worked at McDonalds and could make 12 hamburgers and 6 big macs in under 2 minutes. 2 all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, onions, pickles, on a sesame seed bun! I quite agree, those were the days. I remember the little grocery in Manvel, ND. (small town, everyone knew everyone else) parents never worried when their kids were running all over town because 1.) we behaved ourselves (for the most part) 2.) there was always an adult that knew you and your parents and could discipline you however they felt was right.
ReplyDeleteSo it's a become a small town competition, huh? Well my hometown was so small that one time my car broke down five miles out of town and the news made it back before I did.
ReplyDeleteI went to Wal-Mart last night while Pat was at hockey.I didn't see Sam or his children but I sure met a nice check-out lady.She was at the 15 items or less till and waved me to come over.My cart was half full so I felt a little guilty stacking more than 15 items on the counter each of the 5 times I dug into my merchandise.That didn't bother her,she smiled and chatted the whole time.I handed her a check knowing my I.D. was in the car.No problem!She didn't even ask for it.I,also,was happy this lady had a job and I was helping her keep it.IT REMINDED ME OF WHEN I WAS A KID AND FLIPPED BURGERS AT DAIRY QUEEN.Randy even our names are the same and brothers in the fast food industry.I wish I had your knowledge about tech.I have played Mario until I ran into the guy with the horse head and the scourge.Did you ever encounter him? I was always done at that point!When I grew up my neiborhood was bigger than some of the towns I've lived in since.That took me to google maps where I just toured alot of the old stompimg grounds by way of satelite.It's a nice way to go home without leaving me desk.It's nice stress relief to see home(Roundup) on a busy ISS week.I also like the Interstate cameras.I can see places where I go hunting on the Monida Pass weather cam.TGIF
ReplyDeleteI meant neighborhood.It was a long week!
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure to greet a brother-burger-flipper! I'm sure you needed a little more skill at the DQ in Roundup. We had everything on timers that beeped when to flip, beeped when the buns were toasted. A monkey could probably have been trained to do what I did. I can't remember the horsehead guy, but there has been many different versions of Mario on many different game systems so it's possible I haven't played the one you're refering to. Sounds intriguing though.
ReplyDeleteBefore any gets the idea that Roundup is a metropolis large enough to sport a DQ, guess again. I think Ar Vee's burger flipping days came when he Eastern Montana College in Billings. Roundup had a Tastee Freeze, Busy Bee, Pioneer Cafe and A&W. It still has the Busy Bee and A&W. The Tastee Freeze is a casino and the Pioneer Cafe opens and closes like a flower in the summer. I hear G is Roundup taking care of the ambulance service. Is the Pioneer currently open or closed? When my parents were young, there was a theater in the Pioneer Cafe but I can't recall it's name. The American theater up the block was run by Romicks. I think it's the site of hairdressers now.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Steve,the Dairy Queen I worked at was in Billings but Dairy Queen is in alot of small towns in Montana.Ennis,Dillon and Belgrade are just a few I can think of.The one here is open year-round but the other 2 are seasonal.I think Roundup would be a great place for more fast food business.They had a Taco Johns for awhile and I would go there when I was in Roundup.I don't know why they closed,the folks at the gas station said they were always busy.Dairy Queen had a menu.I also broasted chicken,fried shrimp,fish,chicken strips,tater-tots,french fries and made tacos.Meal time was very busy.Girls would make the ice-cream desserts and drinks,take orders and run the till.They also wrapped and sacked to go orders.I still think the best dill pickles are those in the 5 gallon plasic buckets.I think we got them with hot lunch on sloppy-joe day.Funny thing,but I was just thinking about the American Theater.All that cold space with so many memories.There would not be much intrest but Roundup could be a town museum if they opened all the old business spots.This post probably won't help Unc with weight loss.It made me hungry.I think I'll order a North Dakota blizzard next time I'm in D.Q.,they have "it" all and they won't melt.
ReplyDeleteAs for an update on the weight loss, I lost four pounds the first week and managed to come in fourth place among the six contestants. However, we're judged by percentage of weight loss, not pounds. We've got a guy here on a liquids diet. He's in first place. I don't plan on living on liquids the rest of my life so can't see why I would resort to eating nothing my smoothies while I lose weight. When you go back to solid foods, the pounds will quickly fill up the empty fat sacs.
ReplyDeleteHey, where's G? I think he's pulling a DVD on us. We need some blogging so we can do some more commenting.
And talking about DQ blizzards, Meisner and I are in our second straight day of a Dakota blizzard. Snow is coming down from the sky and north and south, east and west. The wooden fence between my house and the neighbors has been eclipsed by snow.
There is a picture of you guys in the "post a comment"space below this post.LOOK!
ReplyDeleteHey Guys- interesting posts. Now I am hungry! I will post something later today- after I go to school and stuff!
ReplyDeleteLater
G - it's later today and I'm returning to your site...again. Do you know it's been over a week since this band of commenters has been fed. We're starting to turn in cannibals here simply commenting on past comments. Most of us can't even remember what your original post was about. Come on man, we're hungry, we're starving. We want some red meat.
ReplyDeleteGRRRRRRR!!!
ReplyDeleteI keeping back to this site...but nothing changes. Isn't this the classic definition of insanity -- doing the same thing but expecting a different result. Has anyone see G lately? Is he alive? Maybe the tropical weather in Billings has him off drinking pina coladas under the palm trees.
ReplyDelete