Think About It

I was very disappointed that President Obama recently compared his bowling skills to those of a member of the Special Olympics. He immediately knew he screwed up and issued an apology directly to the Special Olympics and to the general public. In one way the comment was -- not so much a "good" thing -- but good in the sense that it has brought more awareness to the cause. But in another way it sort of lets people know that even the President uses derogatory comments about the physically and developmentally disabled.

Plain and simple, using the r-word is hurtful and wrong.

Gas Station Extravaganza

I don't know what it is about me and gas stations. Or should I say, me and gas station attendants? I'm just an average girl, I don't go out of my way to draw attention to myself, and I prefer to get gas and get going, not chat with the attendant on the way.

This strange phenomenon between me and gas station attendants has started since I turned 17, the age where I was legally able to drive (i.e. go to a gas station alone and get gas on my own). I would generally go to the same local gas station and get however much gas I could afford (when gas was way cheaper than it is now!). Inevitably, the gas station attendants were male and apparently felt the absolute need to say something to me. Whether it was a comment on my hair or asking what I was doing later that night, they would find something to say to me. It got to a point where I was absolutely dreading going to get gas. I really preferred to be left alone and just have the gas pumped without any commentary.

I came to find that this allure that gas station attendants apparently held for me was not solely at my own local gas station. When I ventured further out into my area, I found more of the same occurrences. One gas station attendant proceeded to tell me how fascinated he was by my CD carrier. Yes. Really! My black, plain, leather CD carrying case was apparently a source of amazement for one gas station attendant. He raved about my CD carrying case for the whole time I was waiting for my 18 gallon gas tank to fill up.

Some of these adventures did not just happen to me alone. Some of them happened with Miss Petunia in presence, and I am sure she can share some of her gas station tales with us as well!

As I grew older, I thought (foolishly) that I had grown out of this odd stage of being a constant source of attraction for gas station attendants. Last month, however, I went to a gas station and asked if they could please fill up my tank, regular.

As the gas station attendant walked towards my car to hand me my credit card back, he asked: "How did you get to be so cute?"

What the hell?? Just give me my gas!

Perhaps this is one of the drawbacks of our lovely Garden State having gas station attendants? After all...

Expect More. Expect Less.

Target used to be this wonderful store filled with affordable yet stylish clothing, shoes, home decor, etc. It was often called Tar-jey because by making it sound French, it was classy, timeless, and chic. Tyra Banks even gave it props on Oprah about eight years ago because it was so awesome. It was where I went to buy basic things like contact solution, vitamins, gum, pet supplies, and Fruity Pebbles. While shopping at Target I did not feel like white trash or that I was promoting the poor treatment of employees (cough, Wal*mart, cough). I felt like I was classy, timeless, and chic. Well, sort of.

Lately Target has been the least likely place I will go to shop. I wouldn't say the quality of their merchandise has gone down but the selection has. They promote items in their weekly sales circular that they often don't even carry in the store. It's frustrating but the lack of items is not even my biggest complaint.

Target looks and smells like a greasy neon carnival tore through the store and stole its pizzazz and aesthetics. I'm sure this is not true for all Target stores, but my local Target is gross. The shelves are cluttered and disheveled, the fitting rooms are beyond recognition due to the piles and carts full of clothes that block the entrance to it, and the place is just dirty. Most price scanners don't work. At any given time there are about three registers open, none of which are express, so you have to wait behind people with their carts packed while you're carrying about five items. This has more to do with my opinion of aesthetics than it does with actual functionality, but their cash registers are just scary. They're the same ones from about ten years ago but are terribly discolored and clunky looking. The same is true for their customer service counter. It's a time waaaaaarp! Not helping matters is the disgusting and poor excuse for a "food court" they have near a majority of the registers. I have a sneaking suspicion that the grease particles from the scary Taco Bell and scarier Pizza Hut travels toward the registers and clings to them, causing permanent discoloration. Improbable but still a gross thought nonetheless. The store reeks like old oil from a deep fryer that hasn't been cleaned in a decade. I wouldn't eat there if you paid me. And I think free food is great.

Overall I feel like Target's entire image needs some revamping. I know they're trying to be more competitive with stores like Wal*mart, especially in the midst of this wonderful economic climate we're experiencing, but I think they need to try a little harder. Right now Wal*mart looks like a waterfront condo while Target looks like a double wide in a trailer park. Time to get it together, Tar-jey! De-stink your store, get rid of the scary prepared "food" that you sell there, and clean it all up. Then I'll love you again forever and ever.

Luftwaffe, WTF? Oh, wait, I mean Lufthansa.

It was March of 2008 and I was on my way back from Italy, via Munich, Germany. It was 8 hours and 40 minutes of being stuck on a ginormous jet, zipping across the European continent and over the Atlantic Ocean back towards the East Coast of the United States. It was 8 hours and 40 minutes of being squashed in uncomfortable positions with no leg room, minimal food, and minimal drinks. I was doing my best not to look at my watch so that time would appear to move faster, but no matter what I did, time just crawled by, making it seem like I would never get back home.

Thankfully, we reached the North American coast and began our inevitable circling over Newark. I don't know what it was...maybe it was the circling, the length of time being stuck in the jet, or dehydration, but I started feeling hot and nauseous and was just dying to be back on the ground. After about 45 minutes or so of circling around, the lovely intense feeling of the jet's wheels hitting solid earth made contact, jarring my body with satisfaction. As we were taxiing to the gate, I whipped out my cell phone (as I always do during this time on the countless number of flights I have been on) to notify my fiance and my parents that I have finally returned home.

Before I knew it, I was being reprimanded like an 8 year old child. Standing in front of me was a tall blonde-haired, blue-eyed German Lufthansa flight attendant telling me yelling at me in her thick German accent: "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE CELL PHONES HERE. YOU KNOW THAT."

Way to be nice about it. First of all, as I have mentioned before, I ALWAYS call people when we are taxiing to the gate. Never ONCE has a flight attendant lectured at me, yelled at me, or asked me nicely to please put my phone away.

Second of all: SERIOUSLY? You're going to YELL at me for using my cell phone after being stuck on this godforsaken piece of metal for almost 9 hours? You can't even ask me politely or tell me nicely that cell phone use is not allowed until we actually reach the gate?

Lufthansa, you SUCK for hiring mean flight attendants. Thanks for making my traveling experience get to the point where I was more thankful than ever to just get the hell home. FAIL!

Aldo Shoes

Aldo's "policies" = stupid.

Shortly before Christmas I was swooning over a pair of boots from Aldo. Upon seeing them in the store but resisting the impulse to buy them because I was placed on a buying restriction prior to Christmas, I did not purchase them.

For Christmas (after dropping several obvious hints) I received a gift card to Aldo to use toward the purchase of the boots. So excited I was that I quickly fired up the computer, selected the boots in my size and color and put them in my shopping bag. I was all ready to check out; I even had a promo code for 15% off! It was supposed to be an exciting and successful boot shopping experience. But when I went to select my method of payment as a gift card, there was no such option. After checking and re-checking the site to make sure I wasn't just missing something, I gave up and decided I'd try again later.

After still not having any success on the website I took the next step any determined shopper would and I emailed the company. They took about a week to respond and when they did they basically just said they don't accept their own gift cards on their own website and that's that. I had a gift card and a promo code but no way to buy the boots unless I happened to find them in the store following the biggest shopping time of the year.

I called my local Aldo store and was told that the entire Aldo company - not just that particular store - was out of the boot I wanted in my size and color, just to crush my holiday spirits I guess. I told the employee that their policy of not accepting gift cards online was ridiculous but not so surprisingly she didn't care.

So, eventually I figured out the only way to buy these damned boots with the gift card was to order them online then return them to the store and re-purchase them with the gift card. It was very strange though considering the entire Aldo company was out of stock of this particular boot that they shipped out two days later. It really was no harm no foul because the shipping was free and I still used a promo code, but just the hassle of having to do it that way was annoying.

Basically I just don't understand how a company can issue gift cards but not accept them as a method of payment on their website. IT MAKES NO SENSE. So, Aldo gets my "You really suck" stamp of unapproval for that transaction. On a site note though, the boots are awesome and I love them.