Thoughts

Pets Are Forever…✨

Life

Or at least a very long time. Recently I have noticed an abundance of social media posts from friends, families, complete strangers that they finally gave in & got a family dog or other pet. Many of these posts allude to families being at home more often & finally having the time to invest in a pet. This gives me pause, for a couple of reasons – while I think it’s great to see so many pets being adopted, when things go back to normal will these families still have time for their pets or will they become neglected and/or rehomed? Pets can fill a void, I would be very lonely without my cats but animals are sentient beings & their singular existence is not to entertain, feed or otherwise serve human beings. I think that many people are feeling a variety of holes right now that a pet could probably fill but pets are a commitment, not a temporary void filler.

Pluto, ripping up my blanket

Growing up a farm kid, we often took in a lot of rabbits after Easter because families would purchase them as gifts for the holiday & then didn’t feel the need to keep them. It’s baffling that grown adults who thought they were intelligent enough to have kids would bestow a living creature on their child as a gift only to dispose of it. I always wondered how they explained the sudden absence of the rabbits to their kids? Oh, it’s OK to temporarily use another living thing for your entertainment & enjoyment…?

Venus is a bit fat, she is on special food 🙂
Neptune was a runt, she has an irregularly small stomach & kidneys. She is prone to stomach infections & eats everything she finds.

I have a softer spot in my heart for animals than I do most people. Why? Animals didn’t ask to be here. You could argue that people don’t ask to be born either but that’s a different discussion. Animals are at the mercy of their owners & unfortunately, human cruelty & ignorance has no bounds. See dog fighting, cock fighting, bull fighting…trophy hunting to the detriment of entire species. Animals trust us to protect them & we continually fail. We dictate what species are invasive, what species are subject to population control (or removal as the DNR calls it) while we allow our own species to propagate unfettered. The least that we can do for animals is to treat them with some compassion & kindness.

Not sure what I walked in on, probably Pluto harassing Neptune
Looking for trouble.

This is just a reminder that pets are a long-term commitment & a lot of work. I once read a snarky, mommy martyr post that said something like; Pets aren’t kids, I wish I could just leave my kid alone with a bowl of milk. Or something as ridiculously self-aggrandizing & ignorant. Are pets kids? No. Does someone treating their pet like a kid detract from someone’s motherhood? Also, no. Is social media a cesspool? Yes. My point is, pets can be a lot of work. They can have health issues, your home will require some pet-proofing, they need regular vet visits, teeth cleanings, food, sometimes prescription food, water, a clean environment & plenty of attention. If I just left my cats alone with a bowl of milk, we’d have some serious issues. I have one cat that eats anything it finds on the floor, I have to vacuum my apartment almost everyday. I’ve had to baby proof all of my cabinets to keep them from getting hurt or stuck – there is no end to amount of mischief they can get into but I appreciate their presence in my life. If you get a dog, it probably needs to be allowed into the house when it is cold – some breeds can survive outside but a family pet should be allowed in the house. I actually know a family that has a dog that is never allowed inside because it gets hair on the couch. Yes, dogs have fur that sheds…? I also know a family of sled dogs who live outside year round, we had sheep dogs growing up that rarely came into the house. I understand the difference between a pet & work or service animal. A labrador living in the suburbs probably does not fall into the work category. Anyway…

She is also only about the size of a 1-year old cat even though she is seven.

If you or someone you know is thinking of getting a pet as a result of this new pandemic life, just remember that this could be temporary & a pet will still be here when the pandemic is done. I know that is hard to believe but one day, things could be very normal & if that pet didn’t fit into that formerly normal life then chances are they just won’t fit in your life. Also, be sure to research the needs & best environment for your new companion. Is your family a good fit? Do you have enough space? Eventually they will pass away too which can be tremendously traumatic. My grandparents had a no pet rule after losing a family dog when my dad was a kid, I’ve never asked for the full story there but it obviously had a lasting impact.

I love to see so many adoptions happening, I hope that all of these people are in it for the right reasons & the long run & lots of happy homes are made 🖤

It’s Friday the 13th✨

Life

And we’re going back into lockdown – dun, dun, dun. Not full lockdown but it definitely feels like we are going back to pre-summer COVID regulations. We are battening down the hatches at work which has me stressed out. We are still following most of the guidelines that were put in place during the stay at home order so it won’t be a big change & hopefully it is enough to see us through the flu season. I’m not holding my breath because I feel that the situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Aside from the day to day general feeling of dread & melancholy, I’ve never given much thought to Friday the 13th. My mother on the other hand was very superstitious about the date. She wouldn’t make any appointments & sometimes even pulled us out of school if she had a feeling. What she was feeling, I never knew but good thing my teachers were pretty good humored about it her eccentricities. I honestly cannot recall anything happening that I could chalk up the this dreaded day but now watch, something happens 😀 Instead of manifesting myself a flat tire or other calamity, I’m sharing 13 things I am particularly thankful for this Friday the 13th.

Almond Delight Regular

I think that this is something to feel especially good about right now, aside from the trip to the dentist – I have been feeling pretty good lately.

Almond Delight Regular

Seeing so many of my neighbors move out in one go really made me sad, I’m still sad about it. The parking lot being half full, seeing fewer families out & about, how strangely quiet the building has become – it’s been wearing on me. I am one of the lucky ones though that has still been able to work & keep my home through all of this & it feels like a tremendous blessing.

Almond Delight Regular

The complete absence of a social life these past few months has meant a whole lot more attention for my cats & I’m loving it – I suspect they aren’t as much 😛 They are endless entertainment as well as endless mess makers so I always have something to keep me busy. No, they are lovely companions.

Almond Delight Regular

Now, it is certainly possible that all of this new snow will be melted by Monday but new snow always cheers me up. I love how it makes everything look fresh & new, also it makes me feel less nutty having all my holiday décor up when there is snow on the ground. I also enjoy snowshoeing & snowboarding, the season is fast approaching!

Almond Delight Regular

I think that this is the 7th week that I have been using this service & it’s awesome. It’s really cut down on my trips to the store & when I do go, it is just for essentials like coffee, oil & other bits. It’s perfect for a small household because nothing goes to waste. Back when we were supposed to be shopping for two weeks, I was constantly throwing out food or eating the same thing for days. Hello Fresh is perfect because I get two sittings in one meal, I usually make one for dinner & have the leftovers for the next day’s lunch. I do the plant based box & use substitutes when needed, it works really well.

Almond Delight Regular

Who are often underpaid & overworked – you are the real stars of this show. I like to think that I am a pretty independent person but back when this all started & I was depending on essential workers to pick my groceries or deliver necessities to me – I was often hit with overwhelming gratitude for these folks & I can’t thank them enough.

Almond Delight Regular

I’m a big cartoon watcher but I’ve really upped my cartoon watching recently. Currently I have been watching Scooby Doo, The Jetsons, A Charlie Brown Christmas 😀 There is just something cozy about settling down for some cartoon binge watching.

Almond Delight Regular

I’ve said it numerous times & I am tremendously thankful to have my job. It’s just baffling to me that friends of mine who only just got back to work are now being put out of work again. I suspect that there will be no further relief until 2021 & to that I say – stop paying all of the people in office until they make something happen.

Almond Delight Regular

Daylight savings time is still kicking my ass & I feel that coffee is the only thing sustaining me at the moment. Coffee & Jesus.

Almond Delight Regular

I’m actually a bit hesitant to take my upcoming vacation, I haven’t taken any time off this year aside from a long weekend. Reason being that I get nervous about being going & then my employer realizing they don’t need me – no, but it does seem a bit risky given everything that is going on. I am taking an entire week but technically we are closed Thursday & Friday for Thanksgiving anyway. That being said, I am looking forward to the extra days off – I’m not doing anything but that’s the point I guess.

Almond Delight Regular

I am not one to wish time away but I am irrationally excited for 2020 to see itself out. Will everything be sunshine & rainbows on January 1? No, we are a long way away from any rainbows but it will feel good to close the book on this long slog of a year.

Almond Delight Regular

Even though we probably won’t be seeing one another any time in the near future, it’s nice to know that they are there. I can’t with the Zoom calls or drive by celebrations anymore, listen, I know what you look like – just text me.

Almond Delight Regular

I work tonight…& tomorrow…& the next day but Friday always tends to feel celebratory 🙂

What are you thankful for right now? Let me know if you have any Friday the 13th feelings, are you superstitious. I hope you’re well, thanks for stopping by ✨

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow✨

Life

Until tomorrow when I have to drive into work then it can stop snowing. I honestly think that we only have about 2 inches of actual snow & 1/4 inch of ice. I don’t love this in between weather where it’s warm enough to rain then the temperature drops & we get a nice layer of ice. Thank you, climate change.

In all seriousness, I had a lovely day off & appreciate all of the veterans who’ve sacrificed so much for my freedom. Veterans in America tend to be a forgotten population. Homelessness, lack of access to quality healthcare & mental health resources are just a few of the obstacles service men & women face. It’s unfortunate that they are forgotten by society too often. They deserve our respect & gratitude today & everyday ❤️🤍💙

I went to the dentist yesterday, it was terrible. I don’t generally have issues with the dentist but this time was rough. I went in for a cleaning but an old filling was leaking so he wanted to drill it out & replace it, sounded great. It was one of those old silver fillings & I’ve been wanting to have it replaced anyway. I’ve not had a filling in awhile & forgot about the numbing process, why are those needles so big?! Vaccination needles go into much larger body parts & are half the size. I don’t even have a problem with needles but those giant, stainless steel dentist needles creep me out. So, she’s going in with that needle & I swear I could feel it going directly into the nerve & then I couldn’t blink my eye which made me freak out a little. I was all hopped up on nitrous at this point & had a moment where I felt like saying something but couldn’t tell if the needle was still in my mouth or not & didn’t want to move then cause a real problem. So I just laid there internally screaming. Unfortunately, my childhood dentist removed much more tooth than my dentist could tell on the surface & it took forever for him to fill it completely. Good thing my entire face stayed numb for at least the next 6 hours. I actually started to worry, I’ve never experienced such intense numbness before. The filling looks beautiful though, couldn’t be happier. I’m never going back 😛 At one point while I was internally screaming, I started to wonder if I was actually trying to scream but couldn’t or was I screaming & they just weren’t saying anything? I watch too many horror movies.

Today, I treated myself to about a pound of mashed potatoes & ran some errands. Let me know what you’re up to, any snow in your neck of the woods? Don’t forget to thank a vet, have a beautiful night 🇺🇸

Monday Musings

Life

What a gloomy day, it has rained all day & the temperatures are steadily dipping so we are supposed to get some snow tonight! I’ve had the Christmas lights on all day, yes, I caved & went almost full Christmas on Saturday into Sunday. It was a process, once I started pulling out decorations I then had the urge to organize everything so my apartment was a disaster for almost a 24-hour period but it looks amazing now & all of my décor will now fit tidily into one closet. There is still glitter everywhere even after vacuuming numerous times, that stuff just gets imbedded in the carpet & will probably be here well after the holiday. I will share photos when it is more socially acceptable but here is a little sneak peek:

I ruined my lunch after mistaking chili powder for cumin & almost poisoning myself. It still tasted fine but I was breathing fire. When I am working from home, I generally work straight through prepping & eating because I don’t want to miss something & then have someone assume that I am not on task at home. Which is weird because if I was at work & away from my desk eating then my coworkers would just recognize that they would need to come back. Working from home is more stressful than being in the office for little reasons like that. But yes, I am very thankful & tremendously luck to still have a job.

Walz has extended his peace time emergency powers but it does not sound like we are going back to a full lockdown. There will be a press conference tomorrow outlining more targeted restrictions around activities where young people are spreading COVID. I am assuming bars, schools, etc. but I am a little miffed about his language targeting ‘young people’ because it’s certainly not the baby boomers or older people in my life who are toeing the line – it’s my generation & younger. I’ve never seen so many grown ass adults incapable of following instructions so like I have said before, let’s just quarantine those people. Anyway, I’m feeling a little less anxious with this most recent news but still worried. I have an appointment at the dentist tomorrow because I literally chewed through my mouth guard & need to be fitted for a new one. I’ve always been a teeth grinder but it’s obviously gotten worse 😂

I have become addicted to dermaplaning at home, obviously I had to quit going to the salon to have this done every 3-4 weeks. I purchased this nifty device back in April & love it, I am only thinking about it now because I feel like I will be dermaplane tonight 😛 It’s awesome, I should post a full review because honestly it is saving me loads of cash. If that’s something you’d like to read, let me know!! I’ve been pretty much just doing skincare recently & become interested in all of the gadgets that are on the market.

I hope you’re happy, healthy & just doing the best you can ✨

Friday…Finally✨

Life

What a long week…& month…what a long life it’s been in general. Daylight savings always hits me hard, it doesn’t matter if we are losing or gaining an hour. What does that even mean?! We really aren’t losing or gaining anything because it’s all made up anyway. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we all just stopped subscribing to these constructs. Most everyone complains about daylight savings, lets collectively stop participating & see what happens. I have to work tonight but I have tomorrow off which will be such bliss. I’m not doing anything, aside from cleaning & assessing my Christmas décor. I think everyone in Minnesota is holding their breath wondering what Timmy Walz is going to say about the recent spike in COVID cases. In my opinion, the government – state or federal cannot mandate any further shutdowns until there is an economic relief bill passed. Not this time, we all went inside like sheep the last time but I think a lot of people are feeling very desperate. My apartment building is already half empty, I don’t know what will happen if more people are put out of work. Some of my friends only just got back to work, I have to wonder what proponents of the shutdown do for a living that they aren’t worried about being homeless or not being able to feed their kids. Must be nice. I think that everything in life is at your own risk, nobody is guaranteed tomorrow & the government has overstepped its bounds this last year. I’m not sorry about it either, I am immunocompromised, I accept that I might get sick on any given day even without a pandemic. I don’t expect others to suffer for my safety, nobody should expect that. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I understand that the virus is dangerous, I will continue to heed public safety guidelines. The far reaching ramifications of these shutdowns though that nobody can prove are doing anything will last decades. Anyway, keep using your brain, washing your hands, avoiding large gatherings & wearing your mask, correctly. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how people manage to tie their shoes after seeing all of the shoddy mask wearing.

I’m still feeling down about this election, there is no good reason that it should have been this close. Also, I don’t know what Americans think will happen come January 1 if Biden takes it. Unicorns are going to rain down from the sky, everyone will be showered with abundance & humanity, racism will cease to exist, world peace? He’s been a career politician & arguably part of the problem for a long time, I’m actually more interested in what Harris will bring to the table – it’s too bad that the dems didn’t give her the nomination. I often times forget that Pence even exists 😀 BoJo is still prime minister so at least we’ll be the lesser joke of the first world nations. Sometimes I miss Bush, I thought he was a complete doofus but at least he was good for a laugh, now it’s just sad. You know who should run for president? Ben Nighthorse Campbell, his political career is fascinating. I think it would take a moderate candidate who could run on either ticket & win to bring Americans back together. It’s exciting sometimes to see these outsiders come in with new, wild ideas but they fail to work across party lines and are mostly ineffective. I’m unsure of what the freshman class of representatives has accomplished these last 4 years aside from spending a lot of time on social media…

On a brighter note, I am glad to see that retailers are getting creative with Black Friday & offering deals early to prevent crowds. I really never understood why they would bank on one shopping day at the end of Q4 to make their profit margins. I’ve been doing a little toy shopping for the kids in my life, it’s my favorite part of the year. Have you seen these LOL dolls? My mother would not approve but I find them adorable, I’m also in my 30’s so perhaps they are not kid appropriate? Let me know your thoughts on that, I kind of want one for myself.

Veterans Day is next Wednesday, we are randomly closed. I’ve never understood why non-veterans get the day off. Just let veterans have the day off, I think that would be more appropriate.

I hope that you have a wonderful day & lovely weekend, thanks for reading 🤍💙❤️

Vote, Bitch

Life

Ah, the last day of early voting – can you smell it?! I have a bit of a rant about how the absentee process went this year. First of all, I don’t want to hear a peep from dems about voter accessibility, granted Minnesota is probably one of the most generous states with 46 days of early voting. However, most states offer early voting options, it’s frustrating to hear politicians repeat the same baseless rhetoric about lack of voting options when it’s simply untrue. While I certainly support the extended voting period, I think it was a bit abused this year – if you can vote on election day, please plan to do so.

If you requested a mail-in ballot, use it. Do not show up to a polling place saying that you requested a mail-in ballot just in case but would like to now vote in person. In case of what?! The time & money that was spent on issuing a record setting number of mail-in ballots just for them to go unused is inexcusable. Also, if someone tells me that they lost their ballot I immediately question their suitability to vote. Mail-in ballots can still be dropped off at a number of sites through election day, they will be counted. What do people think happens to these ballots? They are counted. Thank you Trump for spreading baseless rhetoric about the absentee ballot process. Don’t even get me started on the courts making a 4th quarter decision on the deadline to drop ballots off.

Do not enter a polling place with COVID – yeah, apparently this needs to be said. There will be curbside options at most precincts in Minnesota. It just really surprised me how many people asked if they could enter the building with COVID. Can you go anywhere else with COVID?! Have you been?! Aside from these idiots, polling places are pretty safe, we are following all of the recommended guidelines, sanitizing as much as possible – don’t be afraid to come vote. There are options for high risk voters, just contact your local city hall & ask! If you are not registered to vote, in Minnesota & many other states, you can register in person and vote that day! Come get registered & exercise your right to vote. We love to see it.

Don’t vote for who your favorite celebrity tells you to vote for. With the far reaching influence of social media, political celebrities are in my opinion, very dangerous. They are simply not impacted by the day to day systems that regular people are. When the going gets tough, the rich get going. Miley Cyrus’s house burns down in wildfires arguably caused by climate change, she packs up & moves. Vote for your values, vote for your needs, vote for your candidate. Taylor Swift doesn’t give a shit about you, I’m sorry if that is hard to hear. If I find out that anyone voted for Kanye, we’re going to have a conversation.

Don’t forget to vote for your local candidates! I’m always surprised by how many voters only vote for president. Your state & local government has a much greater impact on your daily life than the federal government. Some of the lines were perhaps blurred during the COVID response but check out who your local candidates are & what they are running on!

Lastly, I’ve talked to a lot of moms who are concerned about finding time to vote because their husbands will have to come home from work. Husbands – get your asses home, your wives have the right to vote just as much as anyone else.

That’s it, voting is a right that far too many Americans fail to exercise – are the candidates terrible? Yes, but the system won’t change unless the people speak up ❤️🤍💙

Blogtober Day 24: Saturday, Saturday

Blogtober

Kim Kardashian just celebrated her 40th birthday, richer than ever & I just had a 4-hour nap. You could say we’re both thriving. I had to work very early this morning so this is just a random chit chat post.

Does anyone else feel like Halloween has come & gone? There’s already more Christmas stuff in stores & some of it’s already on sale! Meanwhile, the Halloween stuff is just sitting in a corner getting dusty. With all of the snow on the ground, I’m almost tempted to put up my Christmas stuff. Listen, it’s like I say, it’s only crazy if someone sees it. My neighbor on the other hand has already put out his outside decor – he’s clearly lost his mind 😛 No, I think it’s really fun & we all deserve a two month holiday season.

I treated myself to that Casaluna linen bedding set I wanted. It was 19 degrees last night & my usual quilt was feeling a bit thin, I’ll post more about it when I have time to take daylight photos. So far, it’s a hit.

I’m taking Thanksgiving week off, I usually don’t take time off until New Years but I have time expiring & figure I’ll find something to do. I’m not going home but it will still be fun & relaxing. Having family out of state is tricky with all of the different rules & I don’t want to spread any germs unnecessarily.

I recently started a food delivery box! Hello Fresh, which I’ve tried before has a plant based option. Recently, I’ve found myself falling into old habits & meticulously calorie counting which is fine until it becomes obsessive. The thing with eating disorders is that you have to be constantly vigilant because it’s easy to slip up. Hello Fresh has helped me in the past, it’s easy to make excuses to not go grocery shopping which turns into just not eating. It makes cooking & food kind of fun for someone who isn’t fond of either of them 😊

Don’t forget to vote – lots of states have early (absentee) voting options. You don’t have to wait until Election Day! In some countries, you can be arrested for not voting so let that sink in 😛

Stay happy & healthy 🧡

Apprehension…

Life

The Minnesota Stay at Home Order was set to expire Monday and the Governor announced that he would in fact not be extending the order through May as originally predicted. Bars, salons and restaurants must remain closed until June 1 but most other retailers are allowed to reopen. This is it, right? What we’ve all been waiting for. But now that it’s here, I’m not so sure. I think the human race learned a hard lesson here, Mother Nature can bring us to our knees in a matter of weeks and she doesn’t give a fuck about the economy. Are we just supposed to go back to business as usual, pretend that the way we live our lives isn’t completely unsustainable? I think we figured out real quick that it’s not just average people living paycheck to paycheck – it’s landlords, corporations, small businesses, big businesses, universities and the government. The people who are supposed to have this all figured out and provide security to the common man have no ability to do so at all. I don’t believe we are in the clear, I think the future holds a lifetime of uncertainty. Not just about what will happen with the virus or the next pandemic but job security as well. Obviously, the days of retiring from a lifetime career with a cushy pension are long over, Hell, I think my grandparents were the last generation to retire comfortably. Now we see people working well into their 60’s and often taking part-time jobs to supplement their social security benefits. I have no delusions that I will ever retire and am planning on social security being bankrupt by the time I am eligible, the government can’t just keep printing money. I also don’t believe that UBI is a good idea either, citizens shouldn’t have to depend on government for our livelihoods – we should be able to make our own way and they seem to want to make that more impossible each and every day. Squeezing out small farmers with ridiculous regulations, squeezing out small businesses by mandating minimum wage and health benefits – they’ve made it very difficult for anyone who is not ultra-wealthy to be successful in their own enterprise and it’s scary. A society that is completely dependent on their government has no freedom.

I think this is a wake up call, it wouldn’t be wise to go back to how things were. We need to become self-sustainable, self-dependent and self-reliant. For me, Monday won’t be back to business as usual – it will be hoarding my assets now more than ever so that I can get out of this cycle of working for someone else so that I can have money to spend on stuff I don’t need only to the benefit of those who don’t need more money. I thought that I had learned this lesson after the 2008 Recession and yet, here I am. My only post-pandemic plan is freedom 💛

The old normal wasn’t normal…

Life

Hearing that more businesses within the service industry are being given the green light to reopen elates me but also gives me pause. I’m glad that more folks can get back to work but also concerned about the risk they are being put at. If you’ve worked in the retail or service industry in America then you know that calling in sick for work is frowned upon. I’ve work(ed) for three major retailers and while I rarely called in sick or missed shifts, I know firsthand what it feels like to get guilt-tripped into going in for a shift while sick. It’s scary how normal this is, I waited tables for a restaurant in Minneapolis whose policy was if you didn’t have a fever or diarrhea then you should be at work. This culture runs deep within the service industry and I think we can all agree that this is not acceptable any longer (nor was it ever).

Unfortunately, for those of us who grew up working service jobs, this mentality stuck with us. At my former corporate office job, we wouldn’t take sick days but would work from home instead. It’s not unusual for people to be in the office coughing and sniffling at work during flu season, even at my current workplace. It’s bizarre to me that staying home when you aren’t feeling well has to be so stressed, this is what we should have all been doing in the first place. Employers should be required to offer sick time to all employees from their first date of employment. It took me 3-years to start accruing PTO while working for JCPenney and I think I started at .89 hours. That means it would have taken me 16 weeks to accrue ONE paid day off. One. After 3-years, I could request a day off while working for a huge corporation. Funny thing is, I graduated college shortly thereafter having never taken a day off and they had to cut me a check for 2 hours of PTO when I left that job 😀 Now, the obvious argument is that if you want a better benefits package then you should get a better job. I think that all of the people who live by that mantra have figured out how much they depend on these ‘low-skill’ workers and I hope that their mindset has changed.

I am thankful that I have a good job now with better than average paid time off and an awesome boss who would never make me feel guilty for being gone. Even now though, over 10 years into my career, I still feel guilty about taking a sick day. I often check my email and voicemail even if I am at home sick even though there isn’t any pressure from my boss to do so.

As someone who is trying to be a more conscientious consumer, it’s past time to start holding companies accountable for how they treat their employees. Minimum wage workers are an integral part of the huge profits these corporations make each year & should be treated as such. If a company can’t afford to pay their employees reasonable benefits then they should cease to exist (looking at you JCPenney). I’ve been watching very closely what corporations have been doing to safeguard their employees well-being through all of this and there are some that I will definitely not be giving my hard earned cash to any longer. I think it’s the least I can do to support those who are expected to do so much for so little 🤍

Damned if you do, double damned if you don’t

Life

Much to my surprise I found myself at the grocery store this weekend. Prior to this whole pandemic, I rarely went into grocery stores and almost totally depended on grocery pick-up because I just hate grocery shopping. Actually, I used to only do Coborn’s delivery but they stopped delivering to my area about a year ago so I switched to pick-up. Unfortunately, now that so many other consumers are also using pick-up, it’s become a complete nightmare. There’s a three-day wait time at Wal-Mart and Target in my area with some of the smaller chains experiencing even longer delays. I get it, their volume exploded and they are just trying to make it happen. I’ve been shopping for enough food to last me 3-weeks or longer if needed just in anticipation of this. I rolled up to get my order like you do on Saturday, there were 4 other cars waiting and two associates were talking to one guest. It seemed like there was some confusion as she was picking up multiple orders for Door Dash which wasn’t a good sign. I waited probably 20 minutes or so, not unusual, for an associate to come to my car. During that wait time, I received an email thanking me for picking up my order. Uh-oh. When the associate came to my window they said that my order had already been picked up, I explained that I had just arrived and hadn’t picked up my order. They went back inside to double check that my stuff wasn’t sitting somewhere and the notification had just been sent by mistake. No such luck, another associate came out and reiterated that my order had been picked up. I explained that I hadn’t picked up my order. To which her response was, well it’s been picked up. No apology, no explanation of what I was supposed to do now just – your order was picked up. My order in total was right under $300 and she wasn’t providing any explanation of how this happened, what I was supposed to do, etc. I ended up just calling the customer service number and was issued a refund that I should see in 5-7 days.

The whole thing just got me thinking though, it wasn’t a huge deal for me financially as I was able to just go into the store and purchase what I needed (what was in stock, that is) but what if I didn’t have the ability to do that? What if I had just spent all of my money on food and would have to wait for the refund? What if I was out of food? What if I had kids at home? It really irked me, maybe if I had made a fuss then I would have at least been given an apology but maybe not. From now on, I will be going into the store and doing my own shopping. I’ve been trying to avoid doing so but don’t really see another option given what happened this weekend. Maybe I won’t always have the money in my account to cover SIX WEEKS of grocery shopping since I was effectively out that amount of money. Which brings me to my next gripe, people not wearing face masks in public.

Why is this so hard, America? You couldn’t stay home when told and now that we are being allowed to get out more, you can’t just cover your fucking face? JUST DO IT. Nobody likes wearing them, they make your face sweat, rub on your ears and make it harder to breath but this is not an infringement on anyone’s civil liberties and I am tired of hearing that it is. If the government suddenly mandated that everyone wiped their ass would people just stop doing it?! That’s how stupid these people sound to me. Also, if you aren’t going to wear one then you don’t get to heckle people who are or harass store associates who tell you to wear one or walk around being a general asshole. This mentality of thinking it’s OK to infringe on someone else’s freedom as long as they don’t infringe on yours is such hypocritical bullshit and I’m sick of it.

Honestly, what a shit weekend and I am glad that it’s over even if that means today is Monday 😛 Hope you are just doing the best you can wherever you are 🖤