Opinion: Life’s aggravations, and learning how to deal with them
Madera has its share of supermarkets. Until quite recently there was one I considered my favorite. I’m pretty sure I could almost do my shopping there with a blindfold on. Then they got new floors.
While the new floors were being installed the geniuses in the marketing department decided to rearrange the merchandise. For all I know the floors were just an excuse to reorganize the products. On two different occasions, there were district managers in the store so I vented my frustration on them.
The exchange went something like this:
“What is wrong with you people?” I said. “I shop here because it is convenient. I knew where to find everything. Now if it’s not in a cold box it is liable to be anywhere.”
Both times the managers tried to calmly explain to me the flow of the new design. Near the door next to the bank is everything needed to make breakfast, cereal, bread, blah, blah, blah…
He then offered me a map so I could find everything.
I told him this was no longer my favorite store and since I have to wander around searching for what I want, I might as well go to the bigger warehouse stores closer to my house. I am no longer willing to spend more for his merchandise if I have to spend all that extra time and energy looking for what I want.
Then I told him not to pretend it wasn’t a scam to make the customers spend more time in the store and therefore buy more merchandise. One of the managers actually had the decency to look embarrassed when I called him out on that point. I told him instead of enticing me and others to spend more time in their store they have alienated us to the point where I will no longer shop there.
The $100 a month I spend on groceries won’t bankrupt the place if I shop somewhere else but if enough people complain to management maybe in the future they will think twice about trying to fix what wasn’t broken in the first place.
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Someday I am probably going to get smacked by a mother of rowdy children. When I see noisy kids in the store I am reminded of my dad saying children should be seen and not heard.
Truth be told, he felt that way about his wife, too. Yeah, neither of those plans worked out well for him. He tried to be the “Lord of the Manor.” Unfortunately, my mom and I had other plans.
When I see a couple of boisterous kids usually confined to a shopping cart, I don’t hesitate to tell them “Little dudes, inside voices!”
I’m surprised how many times I get a deer in the headlights gaze from the kids. Don’t people teach their kids that command anymore?
It also makes me nuts when parents take their kids to Walmart and let them run loose. A friend with a bunch of kids told me that since these people can’t afford to take their kids to Disneyland, this is the next best thing.
One day I did exchange words with a mother whose kid ran into me with a shopping cart. The mother appeared irate I had the audacity to tell her kid to be careful with the cart he could barely see over. You should have spoken to me, she said. I told her if she paid attention to her kid, I wouldn’t have to scold him because he wouldn’t have run her cart into me. Mother hen types are easily offended especially when called on bad parenting.
Long days and pleasant nights, have a great weekend.
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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.