The deli on Fifth Avenue I used to go to (until 2011) before work each day required a signature on all charges, even for a $1.25 cup of coffee.
Even electronic signatures require swiping a card which is all too often an adventure of man vs. human hating technology. I had a woman in front of me at Pet Smart two days ago who had to swipe about five times before her card was read. She had one five pound bag of dog food. I had two weeks worth of canned food for a couple of dogs, kibble for our bird, 31 pounds of kibble for the dogs, and a bottle of doggie vitamins. Total cost after using my PetSmart card was $99.95. I plunked down five twenties and was out immediately after.
So simple.
That large a bill probably should have been charged, but I had the cash on me.
There’s a lot of crappy candy being put out. Some butterscotch disks are sweet and good. Often, though, the stuff that’s sold is bitter, not really sweet. The stuff you get in big bags at office supply stores seems to be really craptacular, no matter what the flavor. I am basing this on the candy I sometimes get from the candy dish at businesses. Same thing goes for caramels…very few caramels are worth eating, they generally have a bitter, chemical taste. I wanted to make candies for a gathering, and my recipe called for caramels. It’s a good thing I tasted one first, that stuff was nasty. It was either Kraft or Brach’s, and I was surprised. So I threw out the bags and tried Werther’s, which is nice and smooth and not bitter.
I had a run in with old people today at the movies. They got to the movie late, after all of the previews and commercials, and couldn’t figure out what seat to sit in. That’s fine. Things are confusing in a dark theater. Finally, they decided to sit in the row in front of me. That’s fine. I’m an excellent movie companion. They were now in a hurry to get to their seats, so they cut off the woman who was returning to her seat in the same row. Some guy called out “She’s sitting there.” as this old couple tried to sit next to him. For some reason this old couple, instead of leaving the row, decided to move back to the end and then stand directly in front of me and pretend they were statues. The woman squeezed through and I muttered “My God.” (I’m apparently not as patient as MeanOldLady.) Afterwards the old lady said “It’s dark in here!”
I guess in olden times movie theaters weren’t dark. And, the movie always started 25 minutes after the scheduled time.
Oh well. the rest of the theater was filled with old people. They were very nice, and didn’t seem to have any rudeness problems.
She might have cataracts, which reduces the ability to see in the dark. I’m just now starting to get them, and I have problems driving in the dark, so I rarely go out when I’d have to drive after the sun goes down, which makes me very, very sad.
However, she and her companion needed to get to the theater earlier, so they could find seats more easily.
I once saw a group of high school students on their devices totally ignore the request of a woman who was at least 80 years old asking for a front seat. Finally the bus driver had to make an announcement!
I totally lambasted them. Right now, old people are in the majority. When all these techno-babies get old, they will be in the minority. Good luck with being treated respectfully.
I’ve been thinking there’s gotta be some good money in starting tech help for seniors. Sort of an “Introduction to Email and Facebook, Explained Slowly and Logically… for Old Farts, by Old Farts”.
