Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Uh Oh. More Snow.


Oh, it's coming down, all right, although this picture is from Sunday night, when we got a quick layer of fluffy wet stuff that was pretty much gone by morning, but--as you can see--it piled up nicely on the wires outside our back windows. This round of snow was supposed to start overnight, with several inches on the ground by morning, but it was just starting to sleet as we headed out the door. We figured if it got too awful, they would close the building and send everyone home, but at least we would have put in an appearance. We got about halfway to work, though, and it had become so sloppy and slippery that we just turned around and headed home. And actually, they DID close the building at 1:00 this afternoon. I had plenty to work on, so I didn't have to stop to make a scary and no doubt lengthy drive home.

So far (fingers crossed) we haven't gotten anywhere near the foot of snow predicted. I just hope that holds.

Okay, here's an odd slice o' life that happened yesterday--it made me wonder if I had been transported from the cash register at Costco in Glenview to Torquay and the reception desk at Fawlty Towers. I dropped in to Costco to pick up some Rainbath, pine nuts, dried cherries, etc., and, as always, the checkout lines were long. I wheeled my cart to a spot behind a lady who looked to be in her 60s, but who knows these days? She had a package of blueberries in her hand and a case of bottled water in her cart.

I always leave a respectable amount of room between the end of my cart and the keister of the person in front of me... I don't like it when people bump me from behind, so I try not to do it to others. However, this dame just backed right up into my cart before I had a chance to move it. She whipped around and gave me the nastiest look, and I apologized, but she just kept glaring. Finally, she turned her attention forward again. Whew.

She put her blueberries on the conveyor belt and left her bottled water in her cart. As the berries moved toward the checker, I placed one of those separator bars on the belt and unloaded the few things from my cart.

Then the fun began.

The checker asked the lady if she only had the two things--the berries and the water.

"WHAT?" shouted the lady, in frustration and disgust.

The checker repeated her question.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" the lady shouted. "I'M DEAF!!!"

The checker pointed to the berries, and then to my items. "Only these? Or these too?"

"NO!! NO!!! THOSE AREN'T MINE!!"

The checker nodded, handed her the change from her order, and then started to ring up my purchase.

"NO!! THOSE ARE NOT MINE!! I'M NOT PAYING FOR HERS!"

At this point, the person helping the checker wrangle the carts and purchases brought the cart with the water around, placed the blueberries in it, and guided the irate deaf lady toward the door. We could hear her voice ringing through the store as she headed for the exit, yelling about how she was deaf, not stupid.

Um... I dunno. I kind of beg to differ.

Takes all kinds, huh?

At least the checker took it all in stride and good humor. I'm afraid I would have gone all Basil Fawlty on her ass.

P.S.: By the way, I started this yesterday, but I couldn't get the picture to upload, so I wrote the bulk of it on 2/6, not 2/5. Just so the chronology makes sense...

Labels: , ,

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah, snow and crazy deaf ladies. They're what made Chicago great!

(I want snow....sigh!)

Beth

8:20 AM  
Blogger Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Wow. It takes all kinds, huh? And let me guess: she's deaf, but doesn't wear any form of hearing aid? That too often seems to be the case.

Basil Fawlty. *snickering* I would've like to have seen you go all Basil Fawlty on her! What entertainment that would have been!

3:16 PM  
Blogger Cathy VanPatten said...

LOL! I'm afraid I only go Basil Fawlty on a few select folks on a certain message board, ewok--and I really DO try to rein that in. It's hard sometimes, though!

Beth, come on up! We have snow to spare now!

4:34 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home