just a rant....

I just got home from picking up Samuel at day camp.  On the way home, I stopped to get gas.  The plan was for me to get gas & also pick up a gallon of milk.  The kids were all thirsty, so I was going to run inside with them & let everyone pick out a drink.  Little did I know how much of an ordeal that would be!

I pulled up to a pump, got out & read the choice of buttons on the pump.  They said:  "Pay at the pump" or "Pay Inside".  I chose "pay inside" since I planned to go in & get some things.  Immediately, the little digital screen said "please see cashier".

I went inside & the lady working there said that I could not pay inside if I planned to get gas first.  Umm...then why is that an option on the pump? 

Ok....so I asked her what I had to do if I needed to buy some things inside the store in addition to my gas.  She said "you'll have to leave your credit card or money in here with me".  Alright, so they needed collateral to prove I'm coming back.  No problem.  I gave her my debit card & started to walk away when she says "hon, are you needing diesel?".  (no)  Apparently I'd pulled up to a diesel pump.  She was snickering as I walked out.  grrrr. 

I went back out & pulled the car up to the next pump (a regular gas pump) & got it started, then went inside with the kids while the pump filled the van.  Now mind you, I was the ONLY PERSON in the store when I came in before and we were the ONLY PEOPLE in the store now, so there was no great crowd or lots of people to confuse the cashiers.

We picked out our drinks & milk and headed up to the counter.  A different lady (at the cash register RIGHT BESIDE the one I had come in & spoken to the other lady) began ringing me up.    I asked if the gas pump had stopped yet.  This lady got all flustered & said, "Well, I don't know.  You'll have to go out & check".  WHAT?  You've got a machine behind the counter that tells you how much I spent on gas....how can you not know if it's stopped pumping gas?  Then I panicked...do their pumps not cut off when the tank is full like EVERY OTHER PUMP ON THE PLANET?  She just shrugged & said that they do cut off, but that I have to go out & put the handle back into the pump before it would register inside that thepump had stopped.  Good grief!  I left the kids standing there, holding their drinks & ran out & put the handle back in the pump & put my gas cap on.

When I walked back in, the drinks & milk were all moved down to the other cash register.  I commented that we'd switched registers & the ladies behind the counter said "well, we had to void everything out of that register because she had your credit card down here".  Oh come on.......you couldn't just hand the card to the other cashier?  And if it was such a big issue, why didn't cashier #1 speak up when I sat everything down to be rung up at cashier #2's register???  (can you see me rolling my eyes?)

They rung everything up & one of them made a comment about children in the store... like they were put out at my being there to begin with.  All of the kids were being very calm, very sweetly behaved.  There was nothing going on to provoke their rudeness.

When we were getting ready to leave, Samuel couldn't get his YooHoo opened.  It has an old fashioned metal bottle cap, but it's a twist-off variety.  I couldn't sit everything down to help him, so I asked him to wait til we got to the car.  The lady behind the counter sighed (loudly) & said "well I don't know how you're going to open that in the car unless you have a bottle opener out there".  I tried to sweetly explain that it was a twist-off cap while she grabbed it from Samuel & shook it up (to mix the chocolate stuff up) & then popped it open with her handy bottle opener behind the cabinet.

About the time we made it to the front door to get out of this crazy place, Savannah said she needed to go potty & handed me her drink while she shot off toward the bathroom.  While we stood there waiting, Samuel told the lady behind the counter that he was just coming from Cub Scout day camp.  She got all sicky sweet with him (apparently boy scouts tug at the old woman's heart), but in the same breath she fussed at Sarah for picking up a candy bar.  I guess she figured that I'd let her walk out with it since we'd already paid.

Geez.......I couldn't get out of that place fast enough.  At least now I know which store to NOT stop at on a regular basis.  Luckily it was not a place I'd normally pass en route to anywhere I go, so it won't be a big deal to skip it from now on!

There's nothing like an afternoon irritation to boost the mood of a tired mama!