With a cloudy start to the day the heat did not feel as oppressive as it could have had the sun shone all day instead of sporadically in the afternoon. I was glad for a/c in the car when I headed for a grocery curbside pickup. Waiting for the delivery to the car was a warm wait. I opened windows so the air at least moved, though the breeze was warm and humid. I refuse to sit while the car idles just to get the cooled air. For the 10 minutes it takes, there was no need to do this. If it had been hotter, I might have considered it. <smile>
For the first time in a long time, this online grocery order was frustrating. Basic products that tend to be always in store showed up as 'out of stock' -- things like cherry tomatoes and strawberries with the latter available locally at this time of year. I chose to go a bit early and head into the store to see if those two items were available. This is always by the entrance, so no major searching necessary. Voila! Both items were present. I then got four other things that I'd thought of after the online order was submitted. Once I checked out, I realized that the cost of those few items added to the online order would have gotten me $15 in points. When picked today, there were no Roma tomatoes or salmon portions available even though they had been online a day ago. Bizarre. I noted the issues in the responses to the 'how did we do?' survey. Too weird. And frustrating. After all, isn't the purpose of getting curbside pickup to avoid going into a store?
The checkout system has changed. Instead of dedicating a staff person to direct people in line to an open register, they now have an automated sign that directs traffic. The older man in front of me who had two items in his cart kept gesticulating with muttered WTFs and heaving huge loud sighs. He kept looking at all the registers and was about to leave the orderly line and head off to a register. Luckily, a manager level person noted that the rope had been unhooked right by where he stood. She quickly darted in front of me and close the gap -- all without making eye contact with him. Now, she and I had a bit of a nod and giggle, though. The line moved quickly. All registers were open. It was 12:30 PM. What did he expect the store to do? And since he appeared to be in a huge hurry, why did he choose to shop at lunch hour? He desperately tried to make eye contact with me so he could spew whatever vitriol he was carrying around. I made sure that didn't happen. I chose not to have that dumped in my direction.
I felt that I handled my frustration better than the man in front of me in line. I have no idea what else was going on in his day, so I'm not saying that I was a better person in any way. What I found interesting was that my feelings didn't become full blown anger that needed to lash out at someone. I've been there, but I knew I could send a note online to express my disappointment in the curbside process this week. No one at the store or those delivering the groceries have any control over the inventory or online database issues I encountered. So, to me there was no need to complain to them. They were doing their best, which I appreciated. I laughed at a title that I encountered while thinking and waiting in line. It made me think that even though long lines are rarely seen as great ways to spend our time, we each deal with this in different ways. Keep safe. Enjoy!
We're Not Gonna Take It -- Twisted Sister
No comments:
Post a Comment