Writing this post *may* lead to an intervention. Of me. By those who do not play Farkle.
So I *might* like Farkle...I *may* play it a couple (or more) times a day in between emails and paying bills, and waiting for my kids to go to sleep.
It started out small. I just played here and there to reach 10,000 pts so I could 'unlock' some new world. Well that world is filled with strangers and for some reason the grand makers of Farkle thought we would want to chat with each other.
NEWSFLASH *WE DON'T*
Why do we not want to chat? Simple, we are using Farkle as an escape. An escape from reality. An escape from people. Mainly people that talk a lot. And well, why would we want to escape from people that talk a lot to more people that talk a lot but in texting form. Things like 'gl' and 'gg' are common expressions used in Farkle land. Do you know what they mean? It's very much open to interpretation it could mean. Good luck, Great legs or maybe good game or good gravy! But the point is WE DON'T CARE! We (being me) do not WANT to chat with strangers. It was a thrill one day last week to find the chat box gone, banished from the game. But alas, it was short lived and now I'm back to greeting strangers or feeling Farkle guilt if I ignore.
And yes with my tongue securely fit in my cheek I know there is a better way...and it straight to the off button but that's no fun now is it.
Poor customer service as in..that poor girl in customer service as in...me. It's been a tough couple of weeks customer service wise. A few Christmas returns, a few broken items, a few wrongly sent (oops) items...the regular.
I had one customer call me to compare my products to **** that he bought at another establishment that will be known as Wally and Mart. He swore at me, and griped at me and complained at me...and this was BEFORE he ordered. I guess it was all a 'butter-up' act for his call AFTER he ordered. You see he designed a grand meat smoker needed a rack, ordered mine then got mad at ME when the rack didn't fit. He wanted me to pay to have MY racks modified. Um...no. I offered a refund and free return shipping. Apparently the racks weren't that bad afterall.
I had a guy order 10 bowls....yep 10, sent them all back.
I had a girl order a box of muffin baking papers...yep ONE box. Then wanted it overnight, so intentionally ordered it overnight, and then, was upset because we expedited it.
But of all my customers there is one that stands out. He shall be known as my hero for the rest of my days in customer service. He ordered 4 Full Size Cooling Racks. They are large...very large in fact. But like many customers he didn't fully read the description. However, in his returned box written on his copied invoice he wrote,
"I need to return these because I am stupid."
Yep, his invoice now enjoys a spot of honor on my office wall and he also got a free spatula for making my day! Thanks Mark from Massachusetts!
The Clueless Politician Award goes to Nancy Pelosi, (D) Speaker of the House. If this award was given weekly she would win it nearly every time because she stuffs the ballot box. I have been astounded by the 'huh' things that come out of her mouth on a daily basis. Today's 'huh' moment comes with her comment that the election of Scott Brown (R) in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states is 'not a referendum on healthcare'. Um...let's all say it now. CLUELESS. If it's not about healthcare itself it is MOST certainly about HOW healthcare reform is being brought about.
The Out of Touch Politician Award goes to Mr. Barack Obama and his white house crew. It's a two part award. First, the whitehouse lackey's that when asked by reporters what went wrong with the election after President Obama himself put his support behind Martha Coakley said, "Well we responded as soon as we could, if we had been asked for help earlier we would have helped." Funny thing was only 10 days ago Scott Brown was down by double digits in the polls. His numbers skyrocketed AFTER President Obama got involved. I'm not saying it's a direct result...but...well the result was as I said before...STUNNING.
Second part of the award goes to President Obama again for his actual speech at a campaign rally for Martha. {Someone get him a teleprompter STAT or he is liable to stick his foot in his mouth AGAIN}
The first 1:30 make my point.
The Best Come Back of a Politician Award goes to Scott Brown (R) Senator Elect from Massachusetts. His response to President Obama.
“Mr. President, unfortunately in this economy, not everybody can buy a truck,” Brown said in a statement. “My goal is to change that by cutting spending, lowering taxes and letting people keep more of their own money.”
And last...the Most Clued In Politician Award goes to Democrat Evan Bayh from Indiana
Dear Customer, Thank you so much for putting your trust in me. I will do all that is possible to make sure your order arrives in great condition as fast as possible. But there are a few things you could do to help the process along.
PLEASE include your REAL phone number on your order. I WILL NOT call you multiple times during dinner, or sell your number to the evil telemarketing fairies. I hate them too. BUT, once in a while, we have a simple question on the expiration date of your credit card or need to know if you are in Apt 12 or Apt. 20.
PLEASE if you DON'T include your real phone number CHECK YOUR EMAIL...OFTEN. Sometimes we really do have a question that can be cleared up with just a few strokes.
IF you must send something back, PLEASE include your NAME and your ORDER NUMBER. Strangely, I have no magical powers to figure out who sent the package back ESPECIALLY when the return address is NOT the name we sent it to. Yes we have more than 3 customers.
POINT ZERO THREE PERCENT. That is the percentage of citizens of my 'great' city that voted in yesterday's primary election. Granted a goodly portion of our 35,000-37,000 residents (depending on where you look) are kids and not eligible to vote. BUT NOT THAT MANY. We had 1088 votes total for the mayoral candidates and assuming everyone that voted, voted for a mayor that is a measly .03% of our population making the choices for the other 99.97% of the people.
PATHETIC
and I better not hear any complaining around town.
Just fair warning. I am NOT in the mood to talk to you today. I'm sure you are very kind and are only trying to feed your 2.5 kids and a dog but really...can't you find another job? Do you really like the abuse you are put through? Even my abuse (which is in the form of politeness). I don't get it. And I'm really sorry you have to have that job. Now just don't call me...ANYMORE!
Irritating salesperson from Q**** (The phone company that will remain mostly nameless): Hi, are you the person in charge of the Q**** phone account? Me: We don't have a Q**** phone account. (We switched at least 5 years ago on the business phone) Irritating salesperson from Q**** (The phone company that will remain mostly nameless): Do you know who you switched to? Me: Yes (long pause) Irritating salesperson from Q**** (The phone company that will remain mostly nameless):No I mean do you know the NAME of the company you switched to? Me: Yes I know the name of the company we switched to. (long pause) Irritating salesperson from Q**** (The phone company that will remain mostly nameless): *click*
Yep...she hung up on ME...can you believe it? Well in fairness, it was a wise move. I have told representatives of this fine company to remove me from their calling list MULTIPLE TIMES and once I even told the guy WHY we would not come back (all due to our personal phone account and the many hoops and crap they have put us through. Sucks when you have a monopoly on DSL.) Boy was he SORRY he asked. I think I may have convinced him to switch too.
Oh for having the Do Not Call list extended to business numbers.
On Tuesday September 8, 2009, President Barack Obama will have a televised speech specifically for school aged children throughout the country. Reportedly the speech will "challenge students to work hard, set education goals, and take responsibility for their learning."
Many school districts in Utah will be notifying parents if their school decides to show it, and many will provide 'opt-out' activities for those children whose parents don't want their children exposed to such political rhetoric.
Really.
Have I gone down the rabbit hole? Do you remember the song in South Pacific called "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"? Basically it is saying that fear, hate and prejudice must be taught. We aren't innately this way but grow that way from the influences around us that teach us.
I think as an American Society we are doing a HUGE disservice to our children. All the way from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid down to inflammatory talk show hosts and conservative activists. We are carefully teaching our children that opposing ideas, no scratch that, opposing people are bad, evil, wrong. Is it so hard to believe that two people with opposing ideas can both love their country...so much that all they want is the best for it?
Apparently yes, and we see that example in our leaders, in Nancy Pelosi's thrilling autobiography she mentions a story about wanting to buy a house when her and her family first moved to California. Finding the perfect house with the perfect yard, in the perfect location, she asked the homeowner why they were moving. It turns out the family was moving to Washington D.C. to take a position in the Nixon administration. When she found out they were Republicans she decided she couldn't buy the house after all because there was no way she would live in a house a republican owned.
What were her children carefully taught? We have example after example on BOTH political extremes of hate being carefully taught.
Right wing author/columnist/commentator Ann Coulter has books out such as Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism or How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter. Obviously she has the right to speak her mind, but the approach she uses along with countless others is inflammatory, degrading and counterproductive to her position.
My question...what are we going to do to stop it? I am so tired of the arguments on both sides and frankly, the common phrase on both sides--'well the other side did it first' is just plain crap.
Are we back in Kindergarten? How about civil discourse. How about not jumping to conclusions. How about respect, Real respect. How about listening for a change before spouting off. How about teaching our children carefully. Carefully that all people have value. All people are children of a loving Heavenly Father. Carefully teaching them important truths that will guide them in making good and right decisions. Carefully teaching them that if you disagree with someone it doesn't make the other person a BAD person, it merely means they have a different opinion. Funny that we have been endowed by our creator with individual personalities and minds that DO NOT think the same. Do you think it chance? I don't. We have seen time and time again that growth comes from opposition. If we all agreed on every issue there would be no opposition. Without opposition there is no reason to progress, grow and become better.
I will be the First to admit that I am not President Obama's biggest fan. But darn it, I will NOT teach my children to hate him, to be disrespectful of him, or to diminish the office he legally and lawfully holds. Much of this furor was fueled by a Farmington Elementary showing a video about service to the kids. I don't agree with everything in the 'I Pledge' video. There are probably 5 or 6 phrases in that video that make me cringe. But darn it...there are another 3 minutes of pledging to do things that are right and good.
I pledge to find the good in opposing views and respectfully and carefully teach my children to treat all people with respect.
At the risk of sounding elitist, WHO on earth, leaves a used toilet on the front lawn with an attached for sale sign? Better yet, WHO buys it?
WHAT in the heck is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi thinking? And WHO does she think she's fooling?
WHEN will I be able to clean a room without the fear of equal damage being done to a different room?
WHERE is my sanity?
WHY, when there are at least 4 different ways to drive my kids to school does EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM include construction and WHY do I ALWAYS pick the route with the most delays?
I'm pretty capable. I can schlop a 25 lb bag of sugar in and out of a cart without too much lower back pain. BUT...if I DON'T have to do it...its all the better right? So lately I've been stocking up on some food storage items. 45 lbs of wheat in a giant tub x 4 (well not so much giant as comfortably huge) takes some muscles. So I'm checking out, there is no bagger but the checker, and HE asks if I would like help out to the car. Sure I say...so he calls for a bagger to come help me. How come all the baggers assigned to help customers to the car are maybe 18...maybe weigh 100 lbs and maybe look like they could heft a box of Wheaties?
At that point I have 1 of two choices...let the poor wispy girl try to heft my 1 month (for 7 people) supply of wheat while I look like a lazy middle-aged prissy woman. OR...help her heft the grains into my trunk. Then she is left wondering...why am I here again? Good question.
Then there is the awkward moment where we decide if the bagger or I should push the cart to the parking lot. The dance begins as I reach for the handle to start pushing at the same time the bagger does. What would Miss Manners say? So if the bagger DOES push the cart I'm left wandering around with my receipt and nothing to hold on to. I have to play tourist guide to point out my car and hope that the 3 yr old in the child seat doesn't decide to start his power kicks...again. For as you know there is no more lovely a sound to a 3 yr old then the banging of metal against metal when applied with pressure from a 3 year old's shoe. 'Watch out...he may get you in the gut'
The one...good...and nice thing about having the bagger accompany you is SHE will take the cart back. It's against my 'religion' to leave a cart in the parking lot. I admit I have 'sinned' before...but only in Wal-Mart's parking lot where the cart returns are about as close as the equator to the north pole.
How long will it be until Kat remembers to do 10 Digit Dialing???
This is worse than writing out the wrong year on checks...I mean really how often do I write checks anymore? And yes I use my cell phone all the time...but almost ALL of the numbers stored don't have the area code in front.
For all you non-Utahns (all one of you. LOL) We have sadly run out of room on our 801 area code so instead of setting up a NEW area code for the state we now have an OVERLAY. End result we have to dial all 10 numbers to call anyone...even my sister across the street. URGGHH It is faster to run over there now.
UGH>>>>>I just took a break from this rant to make a quick phone call...and you guessed it...EVEN then I didn't remember. It's official...I'm brain dead.
Please leave your eulogies below.
(The font is so large because face it...you should talk a bit louder when you are ranting....right?)
