Why Old People Get Grey . . . Another Rant!

 

Follow me through a particular day of not long ago.  It starts as usual.  Awake for the first time at 6 am.  My phone wakes me, then.  I let the phone wake me again about 8 am.  Then, I rise to eat my breakfast, dress, and do all of those things that people do at the beginning of their day.

Today, I worked at revising my story, Looking for Lady.  It is the story I’m using in the class I’m taking with seven other writers of children’s books and taught by Denise Vega.  I’ve spent some years taking every class that Denise has offered, and I’ve learned so very much from her.  I sent the newest revision to all of the students and our instructor so they had it for oral comments during class.

Moving on through the day, I also spent time with Nora, one of my two physical therapists.  (You know, if one is good – two must be better.)  Thought I was gonna die!  My lower back is the culprit.  For some time now, I’ve been having extreme and consistent pain.  Nora’s wonderful hands worked a lot of that away.  Where I hobbled into the building, I was able to walk out.

With my grocery list in hand, I went to my local Safeway market.  Because of Nora’s treatment, I was able to walk around the store making the selections from my list; sometimes, leaning on the cart.  I could not find many of the items on my list – things that I’ve purchased in the past.

After completing my list’s items, I looked for the store’s gift cards.  I always use these Safeway cards to thank my trash men for collecting trash every week, rain, shine, scorching heat, snow, freezing weather.  As far as I’m concerned, they are some of the unsung heroes of our world.  I couldn’t find any Safeway gift cards.

I noticed that there was no checkout clerk waiting to check me out.  Only the self-checkout stations were open.  I DO NOT check out my groceries.  My thinking is that those stations take away jobs from people.  So, I just don’t do it myself.

Finally, when a store employee noticed me standing and waiting to be checked out, a female employee was sent to the checkout stand.  And she came – reluctantly.  Really reluctantly.

I asked about the Safeway gift cards.  Apparently, she did not understand that Safeway has always had gift cards; a man person – maybe, the store manager on duty – came to help.  I explained what I wanted and was told that they, indeed, do not have gift cards any longer.

By now, I’m a little more than frustrated!  I asked this person to clarify why this was so.  He told me that because of so much fraud, Safeway had decided to do away with them.  Of course, there is an endcap with hundreds of gift cards from other companies such as Target, Starbucks, etc.  Are those companies not concerned with fraud?

In addition, the Safeway cards had a tearaway strip on the back of the cardholder; it seemed to me that fraud would be thwarted.  The card was only activated by the store employee who activated it by tearing away the strip and activating that specific card’s number.

By this time, my frustration was running very high.  I really want to use that particular market because it is in my city; therefore, my city gets taxes I pay when I purchase the non-food products.  I emphatically said to the store manager person, “I’m so done with this store!”  The man attempted to say something, but by that time, I was not interested in hearing any excuses why this, albeit small, market was in such a bad situation.  I walked out of the store, leaving the basket of groceries for them to put away (containing ice cream, other frozen products, milk, and items that belong in a refrigerated area).

I left the store and drove home, where I had few groceries because I’d just returned the day before from eclipse watching.  So, I decided that I would order food from one of my favorite delivery restaurants – Spicy Basil.  Another local business that I like to support.

I did what I have always done in the past.  Get the delivery menu; decide what I want to order; and pick up the phone.  The conversation went something like this:  “I’d like order delivery; here is my telephone number (that is how they identify who I am).”  Can you guess that I order a lot of food from them in a month?  I like Asian foods!

Their answer:  “We don’t take phone orders, anymore.”

Me:  “What do you mean?  I’ve always ordered, this way.”

Their answer:  “So many of our customers use the internet, so now we only use the website orders.”

Me:  “I probably spend $150 or more at your restaurant, every month!  I didn’t know that money is that easy to come by.  And, what about your delivery person who has $5 in his or her pocket each time a delivery is made?  You have definitely lost my business, either in-person or delivery.  From now on, I’ll get my Asian food elsewhere.”

I took something out of the freezer and had supper, after first tearing up the delivery menu and deleting Spicy Basil from my phone contacts.  Of course, I have no idea where I’ll get my Asian food.  But, there will be some place.  I’m hopeful.

Although this was not a very pleasant day, there is always tomorrow.

Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.