Dear lady working the counter McDonald’s inside the Walmart Supercenter in Northwest Reno:

I need to give you a little background before I discuss what went down between us this afternoon.  See, I was at the store alone with my three kids.  This isn’t probably a big deal to a lot of moms, but it’s a HUGE deal to me.  I hate leaving the house with the kids by myself.  But we’re out of food at home and I pretty much had to go.  I timed the trip specifically.  So that we could be home by lunch and the kids could then get their naps.  I also timed it so I could easily grab lunch at McDonald’s before going out to the car.  We could take it home and eat it there.  Easy peasy!  This works for us because for whatever reason, the drivers-side window on our minivan won’t roll down.  So drive thru’s are difficult and there’s just no way that I’m getting all three out of the van to go into some joint just to order lunch.  I’m not THAT crazy.

That’s the beauty of a McDonald’s inside Walmart.  I can swing by on my way out to the car and grab lunch to take with us, easy.  This was my plan.

Of course, my youngest was rather unhappy.  She was tired and hungry and thirsty and just plain tired of shopping.  I was looking forward to getting her a sippy cup full of lemonade to keep her happy for the drive home.  Maybe a fry or two to tide her over.  So yes.  She was crying.  Loudly.  She was past being humored.  I had done that moments before while in the checkoutline.  We just needed to grab our lunch and go.

But it wasn’t that simple.  Becasue apparently your card swiping machine was on the fritz.  And whomever you were yelling at in the back didn’t care enough to come to the front to help you out.  And I think you got flustered.  And you asked if I had cash.  No, if I had had cash, I would have paid with that upfront.  I don’t carry cash.   I don’t like to carry cash.  It makes me feel itchy.  I prefer to deal with debit cards.  And you had several of these swipers.  But I guess if one goes down, they all go down.

Did you say nicely and apologetically to me, “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to cancel your order then”?  Nope!  You chose to holler out to whomever is in the back, “Cancel that order! She doesn’t have cash!”  This was for the benefit of everyone in the line too, who was now staring at me and my crying child.  My oldest had already taken his cup over to the fountain to get his soda and you snapped (yes, SNAPPED), “I need to have that cup back now.”  This was while I was already telling him to bring the cup up.   He got flustered and confused and started to cry.  Becasue I had promised McDonald’s as a reward for making it through shopping without makingme want to slit my wrists.  And now he had done something wrong?

Nope, but he got snapped at anyhow.  At this point, I was so angry, I didn’t stay and tell you what I wanted to say.  I left as quickly as I could, all the eyes in the vincinity upon me and my kids as we hurried, shoulders hunched, out of the store.  I wanted to ask you, “Can you please be a little nicer?  I’m just a mom.  And I’ve got my hands full.  I’m sorry I don’t have cash on me, but a LOT of people don’t have cash on them these days.  You don’t have to announce my business to a restaurant full of people.  You don’t have to snap at me and my son.  I understand if you’re feeling pressured, but that’s no excuse for losing your manners.  You are PAID to provide a service to customers.  And today, you just lost one.”

Next time, put yourself in your customers shoes.  Maybe stop for a second and see that the mom with the three kids is just trying to hold things together and maybe give her a little consideration.  Just because we’re busy doesn’t mean we need to lose our humanity.

And I will be hard pressed to step foot in that McDonald’s again.  Not as long as you’re working there (and you have been there quite a while… I see you there almost every time we’re at the store).   There are plenty of other fast food restaurants nearby that I would rather go to now.   I was HUMILIATED and shamed and I did not a damned thing wrong.  My kids were upset that they weren’t getting McDonald’s for lunch and they didn’t do a damned thing wrong either.  Thankfully, there is another McDonald’s located just across the street and we were able to go over there.  I made do with the broken window by opening the car door.  Not ideal but at that point, I had promised my kids and I was going to live up to it.  Even though all I wanted to do was go home and crawl under a rock and die.

Oh, and thanks for reinforcing why I don’t like to leave the house with the kids alone anymore.   I was starting to think my mistrust of people in general was misplaced.  Guess not!

Love and Kisses,
Marilyn

Once upon a time, we rented a house in the northwest section of our town.  Not an ideal situation, of course, but it served us well while we were preparing to purchase a home for the first time.  It was convenient to Kile’s job and lots of faboo shopping.  There were issues, of course (there always are), but for the most part, I loved living there.

Our mail was delivered by lunchtime every day and I would strap Harry into his high chair (damn, that was a while ago, huh?) before going out to check the mail in the box at the curb.  Life was good.

We moved out to the sticks into our very own home and no longer did we have a mailbox at the curb.  There was a bank of boxes down the street and around the corner in which we had a little box.  Inconvenient, to be sure.  But the mail was generally delivered by noonish or so.  Sometimes it was more like 3 or 3:30 and those days were odd because DAMN, the mail is LATE today!  But… whatever.

Fast forward to today.  Same house out in the sticks.  Same stupid bank of boxes.  Except instead of getting mail at noon, or heck, even 3pm, we’re lucky to get the mail by 5.  I went to check the mail at 5:05 and WOW.  NO MAIL.  SHOCKER.

…

(insert much fuming)

…

According to the USPS website, mail delivered after 5pm is considered LATE.  If that is the case, our mail is late every single day.  Well, except Saturday.  On Saturdays, our mail is delivered around noon.  Why?  I reallllly wish I knew.  I have my suspicions though.

See, several times in the past few months when I have received packages that are too large for the package locker (a larger box that they cram boxes that don’t fit into our teeny boxes and then lock with a key which they then put in our teeny boxes), instead of coming to the house and ringing the doorbell or even just leaving on the porch, we have recieved a pink notice that says “Sorry I missed you!” and that you can go to the post office to pick your package up tomorrow.

You know, cuz it’s SO EASY to just pack up two small children and cart them to the post office to pick up a package that the stupid mailman is supposed to deliver.  Because you know what?  I WAS HOME.  I AM ALWAYS HOME.  I NEVER LEAVE.  I HAVE NO LIFE.  Just get off your lazy ass and bring the damn package up to my door. GAH.

So my theory is: my mailman is an idiot who thinks that everyone (or at least everyone who “counts”) works 8-5.  Why bother taking all that time to go to a specific house to deliver a package when you KNOW that there’s no one home?  Cuz they’re all at work?  And why bother knocking yourself out getting the mail there before 5pm when everyone works until 5 and it’ll be nearly 6 before they’re home anyhow?  If the mail is delivered at 5:30, they won’t know any different, right?

Nevermind the people, like me, who work at home and sort of count on the mail getting to them by a reasonable time.  Because, you know, they may need to connect with someone on the east coast about it and if the mail isn’t delivered until 5:30, that person might not be at work/online anymore because DUDE, that’s like 8:30 for them and maybe they’re putting kids to bed or watching TV or enjoying their lives as they should.

Let’s face it.  The mail is supposed to be delivered by 5pm for a reason.  A reason my mailman either a) doesn’t know about or b) doesn’t care about.  Which makes me want to go down there and kick his ass.  You know, if I could.  But I’m stuck here watching two little kids all day.  And when I take the time to load them both into the stroller and walk down to the stupid bank of boxes after 5pm only to find that the mail hasn’t been delivered yet?  AGAIN? For like the umpteenth time in the last month?  It makes me feel a little stabby.

Listen, I know budget dollars are stretched and sacrifices have to be made.  But sending something USPS still costs some money (more and more all the time, it seems), and as such, customers should be able to expect reasonable service.  Getting my packages delivered to my home when I am actually AT HOME and getting the mail regularly delivered before 5pm is what I would consider reasonable service.

USPS?  YOU ARE ON MY LIST.

You’ve all got to be bored to tears with hearing me rant about Dell.  And I promise that one day, hopefully very soon, I’ll stop ranting about them.  And I’m hoping that’ll be because I will no longer HAVE a Dell.  If I don’t havec a Dell, after all, there won’t be anything left to rant about.  Am I right? 

And the sad thing is, once upon a time, I would have sung Dell’s praises all the live-long day.  I loved Dell.  LOVED.  See, it all dates back to my first ever, just-mine computer.  Kile and I were newly married and had just moved into our second apartment (I had baby fever something awful and wanted a two bedroom place).  I was still working at the university in the computer lab and taking classes part time (though the fall semester had just ended and we were on winter break).  Kile had just gotten his job with the university (the same one he has now) and things were looking mighty bright indeed.  I wanted a computer.  My OWN computer.  

So I went online and “built” one through Gateway.  Remember when that was all the rage?  For weeks, I had built “fantasy” computers on the Gateway website and now that things were looking so well, I went ahead and applied for credit through the Gateway website and ordered one.  It arrived shortly before New Years.  I was so excited.  It had a… wait for it… CD BURNER.  OMG. 

It was… a piece of crap.  I loved it, because it was mine.  But it was a piece of crap.  And EXPENSIVE piece of crap.  Kile worked a lot with Dell through the university and so had I (all the computers in the computer lab were Dells).  They were quality machines.  Eventually, the sucktasticness of my Gateway could no longer be denied and Kile let me order a Dell.  

OH HAPPY DAY.  It wasn’t much.  But I loved that I could build it, like I had the Gateway.  I could beef up the things I wanted and tone down the things I didn’t.  Perfect!  I did this several more times.  I loved working with Dell.  We were some of their most loyal customers for a long time.  I wouldn’t even CONSIDER any other computer.  In fact, in 2001 when I got my first laptop, it was an HP and I was decidedly unhappy about it not being a Dell.  However, there had been a time-constraint and since this was before Dells were available in brick and morter stores, HP it was.  And, predictably, it was a piece of crap.  Though, looking back, it didn’t perish until the early spring of 2005 (when I was laid up with a broken ankle, no less) so I guess it lasted pretty well.  Still, I was still primarily a desktop user at that point and it wasn’t like the HP had gotten daily use until that point.  

I used Kile’s work laptop until I was able to procure my current laptop, back in the spring of 2007 (I think it was the spring of 2007, at least…).  I was happy to finally have a Dell laptop.  It was back around this time that we started having problems with Dell, as it turns out.  We ordered things from them for gifts that would be backordered for weeks and shipping dates would be pushed back and pushed back and the customer service was ATROCIOUS.  Every time I dealt with them, I would vow that it would be the last.  Last Christmas was the last straw.  We ordered a few gifts shortly after Thanksgiving and NONE of them arrived until after New Years.  NEW YEARS.  And these were products that, as it turned out, we could have easily gone down to Best Buy and purchased ourselves for the SAME price (or cheaper!).  It was infuriating.  

And now, my laptop has proven to be… a piece of crap.  18 months after it came into my possession as a brand new laptop.  YES, I’m hard on it.  But COME ON.  Is it too much to ask for a product that costs nearly $2000 be able to last for more than a year and a half?  AARGH!  

I will NOT be getting another Dell.  I believe their company has severely declined over the years.  Shoot, even if they were to email me and offer me a free replacement laptop (hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?), i would have to think about it real hard first.  And that’s FREE.  But giving them my money?  Ooooohhhhh heck NO.  

I’d like to hear from all of you: What is your worst technology related story?  What company/brand has done you wrong?  Do you love your laptop?  (If you do, care to share it with me?)

 photo credit: Robert Silverwood

It would seem that my frustration from yesterday did not dissipate overnight like I had hoped it would.  Then again, I’m not sure why I expected it to since Evie is in the throes of teething and wanted to use me as a pacifier all night long.  My rest wasn’t exactly restful.

My resentment, therefore, has only multiplied and today hasn’t gotten off to a very good start.  I suppose this means I should be paying extra attention to “Blue’s Clues” this morning, as the lesson is in how to best deal with frustration (“Stop.  Breathe.  And think!”).  Somehow, though, I just don’t think that’s going to work for me today.

Thank you to everyone who posted words of encouragment on my little rant yesterday.  I was worried that my hormones had gotten the better of me and that I had overreacted.  And while I probably did at least a little, hearing that what this office did was pretty shitty after all really helped.  So thanks.  Sometimes, a person just needs to hear that they aren’t completely batshit crazy.

Today would be the day I would normally post a WordPress Bootcamp but you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not exactly feeling it.  I might do it tomorrow or I might put it off until next week.  We’ll see how many chidren survive the day today and how I feel about life at the end of it.

Is it possible to be both angry and tired at the same time?  And when I say angry, I really mean a range of negative emotions that include frustrated (“Stop.  Breathe.  And think!”), sad, guilty, annoyed, and resentful.  I feel so angry that I practically shake.  And at the same time, I’m so tired that I feel like I could fall asleep right here (perhaps even with my eyes open).  I want to crawl up into bed (perhaps even alone for a change, no offense, Evie) and sleep for weeks on end.  I want to just forget my responsibilities and float away.  At least for a little while (until the guilt got to be too much).

See, even now I’m feeling guilty for this post even existing and I’m tempted to just erase it and pretend it never existed.  But I’m going to go ahead and post it anyhow, before I let the guilt take over.

You all are probably sick to death of hearing me complain about my laptop.  (Trust me, as sick as you are, Kile is sicker because he has to live with it 24/7.)  (And by “it”, I mean me.)

But I had to let you all know that I am NOT exaggerating when I talk about how messed up this thing is.  Which, you know, means I had to take some pictures.

That there is the underside of my laptop.  Do you see how the stickers have that funky look to them?  That’s because they’re BURNT.  From the heat.  Do you remember me talking about the heat?  It is HOT.  We can hear the fan running but it’s obviously not doing it’s job because this laptop tends to start overheating when I open up iTunes or Photoshop or somesuch.

We’re also missing one of the little rubber “feet” in the corners.  Lord knows where I went.  I don’trecall it falling off.  The “lid/screen” also lost a couple of rubber feet and I do remember that and I remember trying to stick the foot back in the hole until the foot disappeared altogether.  You know?  THE HEAT MELTED THE GLUE.

You can also seem some lovely shiny silver metal where the black paint has started to just flake off.  Not sure why it would flake off unless it’s maybe BURNT or something.

Oh and my Windows XP sticker is all peeled and warped and barely readable.  No big deal.  I’m sure I won’t need that Product Key for anything. *cough*

Wanna see the keyboard?

At first glance, it might even look like a normal laptop keyboard.  Then you realize the Windows sticker in the bottom right corner is… blank.  I think it got rubbed off?  And the Intel sticker is all crooked.  Cuz the glue is melty.  GEE I WONDER WHY.  Also of note: the Control key on the left side is gone.  Remember me mentioning that?  Yeah, it just disappeared.  So I’ve had to train my fingers to use the righthand Control key instead.  You can also see my mouse/touchpad but you can’t see how the left button won’t “click” anymore and you can hardly tell the worn off silver paint on the right button.  It’s also hard to tell how the buttons are getting so worn down that some of them (like the “n” key for some reason) have grooves worn down into the center of them.

Okay, SERIOUSLY?

This laptop isn’t that old.  And yes, I’m hard on things but COME ON.  There should be some degree of hardiness here, shouldn’t there?  Does no one take pride in their product anymore?  BAH!  Shame on you, Dell!  _{(You could make it up to me, you know, with a shiny new laptop.  Just sayin’.)}