ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH

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Frustrating Day Already

Sometimes the day just seems to fall apart before it’s even really gotten going. Like today, when Carla was late to camp because we (I) forgot an essential at home and we had to turn around to get it. 

And then I went to Target to return some ill-fitting water shoes, and decided to pick up a couple more pairs of jean shorts for Carla because she prefers jean shorts to anything else. And there was a big display of Cat & Jack shorts that said “comfy jean shorts $10!” Under the sign were multiple piles of jean shorts, in multiple colors, and I looked suspiciously at some of the tags that clearly said $15 instead of $10… but Target is notoriously bad about many things that involve any sort of detail orientation, so I grabbed two pairs. Target also makes it nearly impossible to see what you are being charged as each item goes over the scanner: the only way to do it is to stand back by the conveyor belt and stare over the checker’s shoulder at their computer. Of course, I missed seeing the shorts scan. And I am terrible at math, so I thought maybe the final price was a little high, but could be in the realm of accurate? (I grew up in a state with no sales tax and have NEVER SINCE been able to figure it out.) I even asked the checker if the shorts rang up as $10 and he looked and said yes. This is a very long and boring story!

As I left the store, I looked at the receipt and one pair had indeed rung up as $15, so I went back in and asked at customer service what the deal was. And they shrugged and said, “Well, the display meant that THESE comfy shorts are $10, but not all of them.” And while I was trying to parse that in my head, I nodded and shoved the shorts back in my bag and left, and then fumed all the way home about not simply returning the shorts when I had paid $5 more than I intended to pay for them. Or at the very least saying what I wanted to say which was, “Well, that is a deeply misleading sign.” 

Anyway! Home!

To discover a giant leak underneath my kitchen sink. All of the cleaning supplies and trash bags and extra Scrub Daddies were completely soaked. 

And while I was removing each item and then drying out the cupboard and trying to diagnose the source of the leak (why? how? I am not equipped for that nor for addressing a leak should I find one), the pest control people CALLED ME BACK.

Which just added to my hatred of this morning because I had specifically asked – via email (after I had responded, via email to an invoice, and he left me a garbled voicemail) – that the guy EMAIL ME INSTEAD OF CALLING.

Not only is he boldly ignoring an explicit and reasonable request, he is trying to retroactively change the pricing terms we had discussed before I had the pest control people come out to deal with a Wasp Situation. And I was Very Frustrated and Sharp with him on the phone, and told him that I didn’t mean to be sharp, but I was dealing with a leak and this was not a good time (why did I answer the phone? why did I bring home the $15 shorts?) and would he please EMAIL ME all the rates that we had discussed, and instead of saying, “Sure,” he said, “Oh I understand completely, give me a call back when it is more convenient.” NO. EMAIL ME. OMG. 

His reasoning is that their rates change, so I guess he didn’t want to commit to something in writing. Which a) is bullshit and b) can’t he simply spell that out in the email??????

I did finally persuade him to email me, but it took an increasingly strident and near-tears additional request.

Oh, and now that I am writing this out, I do think he finally agreed to email me what we’d talked about (EXACTLY) so that I could talk it over with my husband, which in retrospect seems VERY condescending and sexist and jerkfacey. I mean, I was being quite short with him, but wanting to see a list of rates rather than having to remember all the specifics shared during a conversation, especially when I am otherwise distracted, is a reasonable desire and not an example of my poor feminine brain being unable to compute simple numbers. And if I didn’t absolutely adore the guy who comes to do the application of pest spray, I would find a new pet control company in a heartbeat. 

These things are all handle-able. They ARE. None of this is the end of the world, or even, taken individually, that big of a deal. I am not despondent, just frustrated. Frustrated because of these things and because today was supposed to be my one day this week to do some writing. (Does venting to you count as writing?)

Frustrated, too, because I am in a phase where everything seems to be falling apart: our fridge is still on the fritz, which means either an expensive repair or a new fridge; the shade in our bathroom no longer goes up more than a few inches; the WASP SITUATION; there is a stain on our front siding that I scrubbed off last week and has since reappeared, indicating a potential leak inside our soffit; we need to paint/stain/do something to both the trim on the front of the house and the playset in the yard.

And Father’s Day is this weekend, along with two birthday parties Carla is attending, and I am meeting a friend for her birthday tomorrow, so I have a million presents to wrap today/tomorrow and, this weekend, lots of good, wonderful reasons to not be writing. But it is all feeding the frustration. 

And Carla’s birthday is coming up and so there are a bunch of things to think about for that.

And my in-laws are visiting next week.

Anyway. It’s just now ten o’clock and I am already DONE with the day.

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Costco During a Pandemic

I mentioned yesterday that I went to Costco over the weekend. AFTER I went to the grocery store. Let’s be clear: this is not my idea of fun. Even in The Before Times. But my husband is only home to stay with Carla on the weekends, AND he was on call the previous weekend, AND school doesn’t start for another week, AND this weekend is Labor Day and you can bet your sweet patoot I am not setting foot in a Costco on Labor Day Weekend, AND I was really in need of some things only Costco can provide.

I felt very panicky almost from the moment I pulled into the parking lot. My grocery store had been less crowded than normal on Saturday. Plus, my grocery store still claims to have a 100 person limit on customers (although I noticed that there was no staff member counting people as they entered), so even on crowded days it doesn’t feel crowded. But Costco seemed as busy as it ever was in The Before Times. They have stopped limiting the number of people who come in at a time. They have stopped wiping down the carts. Basically, it is January 2020 up in there and I am Not A Fan. I mean, they do require masks, so that’s SOMETHING.

The meat section was particularly hyperventilation-inducing. SO MANY PEOPLE, crowded around the meat. Seriously. I am very bad at estimating numbers of people in a group, but I BET it was at least 50 people, all right there, milling around between the street tacos case and the baked goods. I think they were waiting for the next batch of rotisserie chickens to be ready? I grabbed some ribs (three-rack-pack, baby) and got the hell out of there.

Still no sanitizing wipes, but I did buy paper towels and toilet paper for only the second time since the pandemic began, so at least we know their stuff LASTS.

I also stocked up on Mochi (for Carla) and chicken melts (for my husband) because I am totally incapable of visualizing the capacity of our overburdened freezers.

I tried to get out of Costco as quickly as possible. I mean, that’s always my goal, but now I feel like I’m in a video game where I’m darting in and around aisles while trying to stay at least six feet away from people who are a) stopped in the middle of the aisles or b) completely oblivious to the whole distancing part of social distancing. Next to the meat section, the worst part was the checkout. The staff was really churning people through, but there were huge lines of people, none of whom seemed aware of the tape on the floor marking out how far apart we should stand.

I was standing in line when a staff member approached and addressed the couple behind me.

“I just want to say again,” he said pleasantly but firmly, “that we need you to wear your masks over your noses.” The couple complied, the staff member left, I went about hauling my butter and seltzer water onto the conveyor belt, thinking, “Again?”

While the checkout person was scanning my items, I glanced at the couple behind me. BOTH PEOPLE were once again wearing their masks over their mouths only. Both were also wearing what I might describe as a smug, self-satisfied look on their faces. WTF?

I did not confront them, although I considered it. However, I have seen enough viral videos to know I do not want to appear on one. And that most viral videos seem to originate in Costco or Wal-Mart. And I know myself well enough to know that “cheerily noting that their masks have fallen off their noses” would come out not “breezy and helpful” but “shrill and judgmental.” So I simply stared at them. The male half of the couple made eye contact a couple of times, and eventually moved his mask up to cover his nose. Never underestimate the power of a steely stare, I guess.

Behind my steely stare, I was SO FURIOUS.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?????????? This is the motto of 2020, right? Like, I can, in some distant part of my brain, understand disagreeing with the mask mandate. But I cannot for the life of me understand how people cannot put themselves out for a few minutes out of respect for other people. I just don’t get it! If my daughter’s grandparents can wear stocking feet for a week while they visit us – even though they Do Not Understand Our No Shoes In The House Rule At All – then you can wear a mask during your Costco run.

Also, forgetting entirely the concept of respect, which so many many many people seem to have done, what about the fact that it is a LAW, currently, in our state, to WEAR A MASK? Maybe I can, again in some deep dark place in my brain, sympathize with the prospect of not caring about other people as much as you care about yourself. But the LAW? Purely for the sake of self-preservation, wouldn’t you want to COMPLY with the LAW?

Okay, okay, maybe a statewide mask order is not the same thing as an actual law. I don’t know what repercussions there are for violating the order. But I do know that in MY MIND there is No Difference. Just follow the mask mandate! It is NOT HARD! You look like an asshole when you purposefully, extravagantly, and smugly mis-wear your mask! After being asked repeatedly to wear it correctly!

Do people really care SO LITTLE about giving off I Am An Asshole vibes? (Yes.)

Deep, cleansing, steadying breath.

I cannot control other people. I can only control how I act. And I will be wearing my mask and my steely stare where applicable.