Here's the trouble with Ikea.
You walk in, and you have a list. Okay, I walk in and I have a list. Anyway....I wanted to get a pizza cutter and some storage boxes. Before I know it, we have a stroller full of ... well .... STUFF. You see something and you're saying to yourself "but it's only $2.99!" and you buy it because, hey, $2.99, and you've been wanting JUST THAT THING only you didn't tell anyone because you didn't think that anyone else would understand. But it just dawned on you just that second how much you wanted that one thing. So you get it. Did I mention $2.99?
Here's the other problem with Ikea. On the way out they have this room. It's called the "As Is" room. We have gotten some GREAT deals there. It's damaged, returned, incomplete or otherwise unsellable merchandise. So usually we find some crazy deal there on something that you can't tell is "As Is"....
And then we get to the checkout and we pay roughly $6,578.23 for I DON'T KNOW WHAT. And then we have to get a cinnamon bun. Damn you Ikea and your tasty, tasty buns.
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
speaking of shopping carts
After relating the story of Toast and the shopping cart standing to my parents, I was reminded of this incident.
I was young...two? Three? And my dad took me to the store for some groceries. I was in the cart in line and the woman in front of us (whom I'm told was, well, larger) was wearing a polka-dot dress. I was fascinated with the polka-dots and decided to "pick" them off. You can imagine that, at the age of two and in a shopping cart, I was about buttock-height. By the time she turned around to investigate, I was looking away and my dad got an angry glare. I mean, what is he supposed to do, blame his daughter for goosing this poor woman? This story is legendary in my family...
Yesterday at work I was at the front counter folding some flyers when a young man walked in. I work at a public access TV station one day a week and we often get people coming in, thinking we are comcast, trying to pay their bill. So anyway....I look at this guy and try like crazy to place him, when it dawns on me...I had him as a student my first three years of teaching. I remember his name and everything. He's doing well, though didn't finish school and although he has a job, it's in retail and he's trying to find some direction in life.
I was dissappointed. I mean, I had this kid in AP chem...and he was in other honors classes...I really thought he was going to get through college and go on to a very successful career. He's smart but also personable, a good mix. But he has barely finished an associates at the community college. I don't know why this is so bad, I mean, he is employed, he is responsible (or appears to be). It just seems like he's lost his way. Many of the students I taught are like this. I blame the community they grew up in, largely blue-collar, largely auto-industry related. The parents are doing very well...house up north, house on the lake here, boat. Two SUV's. By all appearances, they are doing very very well. But they will not pay for their kids to go through college. There are exceptions, of course....but largely the community I taught in is not one that values education. College is viewed as something that you don't need to get a good job...and the parents cite themselves as examples...they are doing fine on high school alone.
It's something I don't miss about teaching...beating my head against that wall trying to convince people of the value of a college education...how necessary it is now. I don't miss the conversations in which I try to convince an honors student that NO, community college is NOT the same as University.
There are going to be a lot of tragedies in this country as our economy rights itself. One thing I hope will come out of this, however, is something that is starting to take place in Michigan in the past few years: people are starting to understand that college is necessary to get anywhere now. At the very least, some students need it as a bridge between the real world and high school.....and yes, some are better served at the community college level. I don't claim to have all the answers...but I think that until our society starts to value education more, we have a long way to go in trying to solve the economic woes of our country.
I was young...two? Three? And my dad took me to the store for some groceries. I was in the cart in line and the woman in front of us (whom I'm told was, well, larger) was wearing a polka-dot dress. I was fascinated with the polka-dots and decided to "pick" them off. You can imagine that, at the age of two and in a shopping cart, I was about buttock-height. By the time she turned around to investigate, I was looking away and my dad got an angry glare. I mean, what is he supposed to do, blame his daughter for goosing this poor woman? This story is legendary in my family...
Yesterday at work I was at the front counter folding some flyers when a young man walked in. I work at a public access TV station one day a week and we often get people coming in, thinking we are comcast, trying to pay their bill. So anyway....I look at this guy and try like crazy to place him, when it dawns on me...I had him as a student my first three years of teaching. I remember his name and everything. He's doing well, though didn't finish school and although he has a job, it's in retail and he's trying to find some direction in life.
I was dissappointed. I mean, I had this kid in AP chem...and he was in other honors classes...I really thought he was going to get through college and go on to a very successful career. He's smart but also personable, a good mix. But he has barely finished an associates at the community college. I don't know why this is so bad, I mean, he is employed, he is responsible (or appears to be). It just seems like he's lost his way. Many of the students I taught are like this. I blame the community they grew up in, largely blue-collar, largely auto-industry related. The parents are doing very well...house up north, house on the lake here, boat. Two SUV's. By all appearances, they are doing very very well. But they will not pay for their kids to go through college. There are exceptions, of course....but largely the community I taught in is not one that values education. College is viewed as something that you don't need to get a good job...and the parents cite themselves as examples...they are doing fine on high school alone.
It's something I don't miss about teaching...beating my head against that wall trying to convince people of the value of a college education...how necessary it is now. I don't miss the conversations in which I try to convince an honors student that NO, community college is NOT the same as University.
There are going to be a lot of tragedies in this country as our economy rights itself. One thing I hope will come out of this, however, is something that is starting to take place in Michigan in the past few years: people are starting to understand that college is necessary to get anywhere now. At the very least, some students need it as a bridge between the real world and high school.....and yes, some are better served at the community college level. I don't claim to have all the answers...but I think that until our society starts to value education more, we have a long way to go in trying to solve the economic woes of our country.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Open Communication
To all drivers in the great state of Michigan:
It is April. That means you have been driving in the snow for the past four months (five, if you count the storm we had in October and add into it any flurries that occurred in November and December). What this means, ultimately, is that you should now be well versed in how to drive in snow. Unless you have spent the past four or five months in your house without ever leaving for any reason (and tell me, really , who delivered your groceries? I want to know....) YOU HAVE DRIVEN IN THE SNOW! What this means is that the small, paltry, inadequate dusting of frozen water we have on the ground today is NOT A REASON to drive only twenty five miles an hour on the FREAKING HIGHWAY. It also means that while you may have to slow your vehicle (pronounced Vee-hick-ul, because I like it that way) in order to maneuver around a corner, there is no reason to actually stop at multiple points during your turn. The stop sign means you only need to stop once, not at each and every point of the curve you are trying to negotiate.
Furthermore, if the sheer number of poor drivers I encountered today is someone's idea of a sick joke...a pox upon you. And all of your crappy drivers.
Thank you, drive through.
It is April. That means you have been driving in the snow for the past four months (five, if you count the storm we had in October and add into it any flurries that occurred in November and December). What this means, ultimately, is that you should now be well versed in how to drive in snow. Unless you have spent the past four or five months in your house without ever leaving for any reason (and tell me, really , who delivered your groceries? I want to know....) YOU HAVE DRIVEN IN THE SNOW! What this means is that the small, paltry, inadequate dusting of frozen water we have on the ground today is NOT A REASON to drive only twenty five miles an hour on the FREAKING HIGHWAY. It also means that while you may have to slow your vehicle (pronounced Vee-hick-ul, because I like it that way) in order to maneuver around a corner, there is no reason to actually stop at multiple points during your turn. The stop sign means you only need to stop once, not at each and every point of the curve you are trying to negotiate.
Furthermore, if the sheer number of poor drivers I encountered today is someone's idea of a sick joke...a pox upon you. And all of your crappy drivers.
Thank you, drive through.
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