Archive for February, 2008
Today, I went into town to do the monthly shop where I stock up on the items such a laundry detergent, etc., as it is so much cheaper in larger stores than the little local shops that we have nearby.
Today, my first port of call was Target. I rather like Target; it just seems so much more civilized than Wal-Mart; and, I fancy that some of their items are of better quality. The prices are comparable to Wal-Mart, but like everything, between the two, some things are cheaper and some are more expensive. I would hazard a guess that if you took the same shopping list to both stores, your total cart would cost about the same, albeit the individual items may vary somewhat.
Anyway, I pulled into Target and got out of my car and started to go towards the entrance. In front of me were a mixed couple who I would say was in their mid to late forties – not old by any means. They seemed to be having an argument of some sort:
Wife: “You parked too far away from the entrance.”
Husband: “I parked as near as I possibly could; I really couldn’t park any closer.”
Wife: “Well, it is still too far away, you should have parked closer.”
Husband: “But there weren’t any spaces closer than that one we are in.”
Wife: “You’ve always got an excuse for everything; you still parked too far away from the entrance.”
This conversation continued until the couple went inside; however, once inside, the woman’s mood didn’t improve any. She had a very loud voice and as I was about to discover, her entire visit to Target would be very public indeed:
Wife: “Look at that, there’s nobody here to help. They should have someone here to hand a cart to me when I walk in, instead of me having to get it myself.”
Husband: “Perhaps they are a little short staffed today; it is a public holiday after all.”
Wife: “Short staffed? They just don’t want to pay anyone to do the job; I am surprised that the place isn’t full of Mexicans. They come here and take American jobs and don’t mind being paid peanuts to do it.”
Husband: “Well, they don’t seem to have any Mexicans working here today. The staff all appear to be very American to me.”
Wife: “You just wait until next time we come; it’ll be full of Mexicans, you’ll see.”
At this point, I headed in the opposite direction to this couple; I wanted to put as much distance as I could between us. However, her very loud voice meant that pretty much wherever you went in the store, you could hear her complaining about something:
Wife: “Typical, you come all this way to get the shampoo that you want and then they don’t have it.”
Husband: “We did come for more a little more than just shampoo; perhaps we could get something else that is similar?”
Wife: “Similar! I didn’t come all this way for similar; I came here to get what I wanted and they don’t have it.”
Husband: “Well, if they don’t have it, we can’t really buy it. I am sure that they will have it in stock again soon though.”
Wife: “Well that’s no good to me; what am I supposed to wash my hair with while we are waiting for these people to get it back in stock?”
Husband: “What about that shampoo that you used to use? Perhaps we could get that.”
Wife: “I suppose I am going to have to.”
At this point, the woman picks up a popular brand of shampoo and starts reading the back of the bottle.
Wife: “I’m not buying this; you read the label and the English part about how to use it is down the bottom. You’d think that as we are in America, the English part would be at the top; but no, it is down the bottom because at the top, they have the directions in Spanish for them Mexicans.”
Husband: “It’s shampoo, you probably used it the same way you do any shampoo.”
Wife: “I don’t care; I am not spending good money so that they can suck up to the Mexicans.”
In the end, the couple finished their shopping and headed to the checkout. There were not many people in the store and so when they got there, there were two checkouts open. Certainly, when I got to the checkout, I was next behind the person currently being checked out.
Wife: “Oh my God; they’ve only got two check-outs open; now we’ll have to queue. They should have at least four open; but of course, I suppose they don’t want to pay anyone and so I have to be inconvenienced.”
Husband: “I am sure that by the time we have put our stuff on the conveyor it’ll be our turn.”
Wife: “God, you make me sick; when are you going to start living in the real world. Once we’ve put our stuff on the conveyor we’ll still be queuing and all because they don’t want to pay more than two people to check everybody out.”
As the husband had suggested, once their goods were on the conveyor belt, they got checked out without further ado. However, that is not the end of it. Having been wished a nice day but the very nice lady on the checkout there was more complaining:
Wife: “It used to be that someone would take your stuff out to the car for you; I guess those days are over?”
Husband: “Well, we have pushed the cart this far, I am sure that another few feet won’t hurt us.”
Wife: “That’s it, you just roll over and play dead; I’ve known 2-year-olds with more backbone that you. Now we’ll have to push this thing all the way to the car, and of course, like I said, you parked too far from the entrance. Just look how far we have to go; and look, there are all these empty parking spaces right by the door – I told you that you should have parked closer…..”
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