WHY I DON'T SHOP ON WEEKENDS!!!

PEOPLE~!! LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE!!! JEEZ!

So William broke his glasses... again!!! Since he kinda needs them to see... almost everything, we had to go to the mall to get new ones, to Lenscrafters, so we could have them "in about an hour". Readers, I have been an at home Mama forever it seems. I made it a rule almost 14 years ago that I was not going to contribute to the congestion all the hard working, working moms have to face on the weekends to get their errands done. My rule is "Don't shop on weekends for ANYTHING, since I can do it during the week." Well... William's glasses broke Friday night at 9 p.m., and if I wanted him to have a good start to his new semester and new classes on Monday, I needed to get him a new pair of glasses pronto.

Holy Cow!!! Where did all the people come from!!! I shop when everyone is at work... THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE!!! I have to say though... most of the people in the mall were under the age of 17.

I have one question... WHERE WERE THEIR PARENTS!!! Not one of them said excuse me when they cut in front of me in the Vans store... the boys and I tried to get into Hollister and a throng of them were at the door, and when I smiled and said excuse me, they didn't budge. I said excuse me again, and they looked me up and down, and one said, "What could you possibly want in here."

Not one to hold my tongue... I said, "Sweetheart, they want me in there... I can actually pay for the items I touch, now excuse me so I can buy my wonderful, polite, mannered children anything their little hearts desire." We went in to shop while waiting for our overpriced, hopefully well made eyeglasses.

I was truly dismayed to see the rude girl from the door helping people in the store. I asked if she worked there, and she replied with a haughty "Yeah" while chewing her gum. I ever so sweetly asked to speak with her Manager. I called the rude girl over so she could hear what I said to her boss.

Here's what I said... "Hello, I am a Mom with money to spend on my children. I am well aware that I cannot fit into anything in this store, but your associate saw fit to let me know anyway. She seems to be under the assumption that overweight people don't have debit cards or checking accounts. Now, can you tell me if it is your policy to only accept monies from people that fit your description of who can/cannot purchase in here?" The Manager was completely staring down the rude girl. FUMING!

The Manager wasn't more than a few years older than the rude one, but I could tell she was brought up better. She replied "Absolutely NOT! Everyone can shop in here! I am so sorry this happened." I looked around the store and saw about 6 or 7 things I would have bought for the boys, and did a mental tally in my head. I then told the rude one that if she is on commission, she should really put aside her prejudices and look at every customer as potential increase in her paycheck, and her attitude would be better served in a job where she does not deal with the public until she can learn some manners and decorum. Then I thanked the Manager for her time, told her how much I was not going to be spending in the store, and that in my past experience in retail sales, a happy customer tells up to 10 people about their experience, and an unhappy customer tells over 100. I then asked her to stay close to the rude girl on the floor if she wants to shine when the secret shopper comes in the store, and how did she know I wasn't the secret shopper? I thanked her again, and walked out of the store with my three little men behind me.

Remember that movie "Fried Green Tomatoes"? When Kathy Bates hits that young chicks car after being taunted by the youngin's? When she says "I'm older and I've got more insurance!"

That's what I felt like!

I know people think stuff like that happens all the time to people that don't look like everyone else... but it really doesn't!!! Most people are really awesome!!! I shop EVERYWHERE, and have never had a rude experience like the one I had today. So weird.

I felt so bad for the Manager. She is going to have her hands full. The rude girls face went from a face of "I don't care what you have to say... to... Oh crap... this lady means business, I wonder if I am gonna get fired"

So... I like my rule of NEVER shopping on the weekends, unless I absolutely have too. There'll be more room on the freeway for all you hard working ladies with 9-5's and no time get anything done after work. You ROCK!

We had a great experience at LensCrafters. They were awesome and the glasses were done really well. The Vans Store employees were great too.

I'm gonna go watch the Miss America Pageant now.

Happy Saturday Night!

Ciao! Ciao!