I forgot my cart quarter

I shop at Ruler at least once a week. If you don't know, it's a grocery stores where they hold  your quarter hostage while you use their cart, and then return it if you're not one of those scumbags that leaves their cart sitting in the middle of the parking lot. But, I digress! 

Because of my numerous trips, I usually keep a quarter or 2 in the truck so I'm prepared. I also like to leave my quarter in the cart when I return it in case someone else finds themselves without one, hence there are times when I may not have a quarter on me. Last night, I found myself in that position after a tiring 12 hour shift, while running on less than 3 hours of sleep. 

On my last Ruler trip, there were 3 "cart quarters" left behind so I was hopeful I might find one waiting for me. Optimistically, I approached the cart line, only to find...NOTHING! Not a single quarter to be found.

As I entered the store, mentally narrowing down my list to the few that I could feasible carry to the checkout, I briefly thought about wrangling the cart free from its' chain by force. After deciding it wasn't worth jail time over $0.25, I grabbed a few things and headed home.

As I headed back to Ruler today, I made sure my trusty cart quarter was safely in my pocket. As I returned my cart, I contemplated leaving the quarter again but decided against it. I'm getting low on quarters and I'll probably be back at Ruler within a couple days. I'd better hang on to it until the quarter thief is identified and apprehended. Ha Ha 

Are we ready for CO-ED dressing rooms?

A blogger recently wrote a story about an experience a male friend of his had when helping his daughters try on clothes at a department store.

At first I thought, what person would actually complain about this to a manager, but then...I started thinking...this man was with his wife and 2 daughters. Yes, he has the right to help them choose clothing but why didn't his wife go with them into the "ladies" dressing room?

And then I thought, what would have happened if he was a single father with no female to help him in this situation. I'm torn...what should have happened here.

Could he have taken them into the mens changing room? Would that have been preferable? What if his daughters had encountered a man changing in that dressing room? Isn't it possible that they would have been equally as "traumatized" as the daughter of the woman filing the complaint?

The mother that complained most likely worried that her daughter might be seen by someone of the opposite sex and feel uncomfortable by the encounter. Do you really blame her? Would you want a man wandering around the ladies changing room when you are in there trying on clothes? I'm sure seeing little girls wandering around the mens room with their father's is awkward for many men.

Even if the rooms are all private, there really is no true "privacy" when you are in a public place and you're getting naked. Anyone could open the wrong door at the wrong time and...BOOM! Instant awkwardness!

Maybe it's time to install "family" dressing rooms that are larger and in a more neutral location to allow either parent to assist their children. I don't know how this changing area was laid out so it may have been such an intimate setting that there was no way to avoid her daughter running into the man but I think this issue needs to be addressed. There are way more single parents these days that have children of the opposite sex and could be subjected to this practice. Much like the lack of changing tables in mens rooms, we need to have a more universal place for parents to help their kids without being subjected to nasty glares and rude complaints.

Ethnic Halloween costumes make me racist?

Wow, so I apparently opened up a huge can of worms by saying that I didn't think ethnic halloween costumes were racist as long as the wearer wasn't portraying the character in a demeaning light. If you want to see more, go to the Ask A Manager page. My comment is the 2nd on this post and I'm being attacked in a mass number of posts after. I was even called a "smug twit"! LOL

I love the post that basically calls me a racist for being accepting of the situation. People can stretch anything to make a scandal and I'm so sick of all the intolerance. I knew there were people that had strong opinions and probably wouldn't agree but I had no idea that they all read this Ask A Manager blog!

 

 



I guess if we want to be fair then we should not allow "non-white" people to buy costumes that portray white people as that could be considered "reverse racism". And what the heck is reverse racism anyway? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

 

There are always going to be people that hate you based on your race, sex, education, etc. Who cares? Let them hate, that is their problem and unless they act on it, it has nothing to do with you directly.

 

Stop giving power to those that want to be hate mongers, including the folks that felt the need to attack me for posting my opinion, which is what the website owner asked for.

 

Freedom of speech, but only if you agree with what the majority of the public think, eh?

 

Well, that's not how I live so if you don't like my opinion...move on! I'm not hurting you, I'm not defaming anyone and I'm not speaking ill of any other person, race or gender. Get over yourselves and find something to do that will actually benefit the world...instead of spreading more hate.

A letter to my mom

Dear Mom,
Last Sunday, I posted a picture to Facebook that really upset you. In fact, you were so upset that you left work early to come home and relieve me of my babysitting duties. I type this on day 7 of the silent treatment you've decided to give as punishment. I must be a horrible daughter to post the picture below making a joke out of the dirty condition your stove is in. Obviously, this is an underlying attack on you in general (even though I tagged you and Justin in the picture).

"01/29/12 Dear residents on Idlewild...please clean your stove. I nearly burned the house down with 5 children in it. Sincerely, the babysitter! :0)"

I have to assume that this isn't the real cause of your dysfunction but possibly the straw that broke the camels back. However, I do question your ability to remain rational in situations that become stressful. It shouldn't surprise me, though. After 35 years, I'm well aware that you tend to get upset about trivial things and hold a grudge longer than anyone I've ever know.

As my mother, I assumed that you knew my personality well enough to remember that I make jokes about everything. It's my nature...it's who I am. You either don't know me at all...or don't care.

That day, you also mentioned being upset about something I had posted over a year ago about being stressed out because my credit was all maxed out. And yes, I probably mentioned that your house and $3000 transmission bill were on my credit. I think after all that I financed for you, I'm entitled to be a little stressed out about it. I won't be able to get a decent car loan until that house is paid off and I really need to get a new car soon! So what? Is that really worth holding a grudge over? Heck, is it really even worth getting upset about?

When you called yesterday, I thought maybe you had gotten over it and we could get back to normal. But, NO! You just needed me so you could remove your cell phone from my plan, but instead of waiting the 20 minutes it took me to get the message, call Verizon and then call you back, you just set up a new plan. Not even thinking that I would then be stuck paying the bill for your current line until the contract ended in a year. If you'd bothered to call before you went to the store, I could have taken care of it. But no...back to the silent treatment again. Heck, you weren't even nice to me when I called back to tell you I'd taken care of it.

So I called Verizon and had the guy call you to clear it up. Did you bother to call me & tell me it had been taken care of? Hell NO, you didn't even call me the first time to tell me your number had been changed.

So, after all this childishness, we are back to the silent treatment again. It's frustrating, but I'm not making the first step this time. You've done this to me before and I'm always the one that has to be the initiator. No more...if you want to have a relationship with me and Josh, you'd better get that chip off your shoulder, get your priorities in line and make your move.

I'm not going to do it this time!

Don't knock...we're sleeping!

Seriously, this is a sign that I'm forced to put on the door every morning unless I want to be awakened by, what sounds like, Dog the bounty hunter coming to get me.

I forgot to put the sign up last night so I was woken up by the banging...again. I don't know if the kids are incredibly rude or if they just think we are deaf but they will stand outside and bang on the door 3 or 4 times if we don't immediately answer.

I'm voting for "rude" because my house is full of signs w/common sense instructions that these kids don't know. CLOSE THE DOOR, DON'T EAT ALL MY FOOD, PUT TRASH IN THE TRASH, DON'T UNPLUG MY OUTLETS, TURN THE TV OFF.

It's ridiculous that these teenagers don't have any common sense or courtesy whatsoever. What are parents doing today? I know they all work but kids learn by example so what kind of parents do these kids have? I'm scared for their futures.

I hate children...

Seriously, there have been times in the last couple weeks that I have felt that way and had the intense urge to strangle some of them. I used to think that my son (13) was the most ill-mannered, rude child in the neighborhood. This past week, he has appeared (almost) saint-like compared to some of the hooligans that live here.

These kids have no respect for anyone else or their property and are allowed to roam the neighborhood until 1am or later. I can't count the number of red juice stains that I've found on my counters, carpets, etc. Josh's toys always seem to get broken when the other kids are here. They leave electronics and other breakable items laying all over the floor. And they leave the door standing open when the A/C is running. I even put a sign on the door and they still don't close it.

This morning, one of them egged my house because he was mad at Josh. This afternoon, they tried to convince me to take 7-8 people in the back of my car that only carries 5. They swore they would all hide in the back. We aren't going anywhere unless everyone is buckled. Tonight, a group of them came looking for Josh close to 10pm. They knocked once, twice, three times...then opened the screen door and started banging on the glass. If I'd been asleep I would have gone even more ballistic on them than I did.

Seriously, if you knock twice and the door isn't answered, GO AWAY! Especially when all the lights are off. You rude, inconsiderate piece of...sorry! I'm still extremely irritated at how they have behaved today and I'm about to ban them from the house entirely. I don't know how much more I can take.

10 Random Pet Peeves

I've had more time to analyze the things around me during my 6 months of unemployment and I've decided to compile a list of 10 random pet peeves. Once I started thinking about them, I actually had a bit of a struggle to come up with 10. The first 5 were easy.

1. People that use poor spelling and grammar. Unless you are texting, please spell the words completely so I can understand what you are saying.

2. Driver's that don't pay attention to the road. Stop texting, get off your phone, use your signal and pay attention. I don't want to die because you had to check your facebook account.

3. People that are late to everything. It's very rude and unprofessional to be late for a schedule appointment or meeting. Even if it's family or a personal meeting, be on time!

4. People that feel the need to best everyone around them. Can't you just be happy for someone when they get something new? Why do you have to try to prove that what you have is better? It's not all about you!

5. People that litter. I cannot stand seeing people throw trash out their car windows. Especially cigarette butts...that is a fire hazard. I used to do this when I smoked and I can't believe I was ever that inconsiderate. I wish someone had said something to me at the time.

6. People that do not try their best at work. If you don't like your job and don't want to be there...quit. There are several other people that would be happy to take your place.

7. People that are blatantly rude to other people...even if it's behind their back.

8. People that "live" on welfare and assistance, do drugs, drink and can't take care of the multiple children they just keep having.

9. Parents that drop their small children off at the playground, park or pool and leave them unattended. That is grounds for neglect charges. Lifeguards are NOT babysitters.

10. Putting on warm pants from the dryer only to find that as they cool down, the band is still wet! :)

Now that I thought of #10 I bet I could think of a lot of little things that drive me crazy! Boy, that might be a long list! :)

What are some of your pet peeves? Other than people who blog about their pet peeves?? LOL