Once upon a time, there was a sunny day. The day started out well below freezing, and when the mama left in the morning for her CT scan, her hands froze on the steering wheel. The dashboard gauge read: 9 degrees (-12C). She had cleared the frost in a nice circle on the driver's side of the windshield, and set out for the small city.
After initialing page after page of documents, it was time to wait in the waiting room for the scan. The television was blaring with a kids' detective show while the middle aged couple across from her held hands and wiped tears from their eyes. This mama tried really hard not to be nosey, but she did wonder...then the lady was called in for a test, and the guy pulled out an old fashioned flip phone, and punched out a text while wiping his eyes.
The scan itself was no big deal, after getting over the shock of the immensity of that scary machine. "Just lie down on this flimsy narrow table, please, do as we say and you'll be alright." Not really, but that's what this mama heard.
Shh, but the test was over quickly, so the mama sneaked right over to the grocery store, living it up that she was all by her lonesome. She used the bathroom there, all by herself, then bought a coffee to drink while cruising the aisles. She considered and chose and browsed, with no apologies about how long it was taking. She bought a Darth Vader Jell-o mold, complete with four packages of Jell-o, for only $2.49! And a two-pack of Glade Christmas candles, although she noted that they were labeled, "Holiday Edition" candles. The shelf tag said 75 cents, clearance, but when she got out to her van, she realized she had paid $5.79 for them. Four other items also rang up wrong, so back into the store she went. She had overpaid by $15. It took almost 20 minutes to get it all straightened out, with the lady at the service desk making phone calls to various people from different departments, stating each time, "The customer says the price is..."..as if the customer was making wild and crazy claims. This mama felt humiliated, her integrity questioned, as if it was HER fault things were not programmed properly when the shelf tags were changed. To top it off, as she turned to leave, the lady at the desk handed her a dollar from the drawer. For her trouble. Hmpfffph. She took the dollar, said her thanks, and mumbled all the way out the door that her time must be worth only four dollars an hour.
Then, shh, she went to the thrift store. Oh, the joy of inspecting so many racks of clothes without having to give thumbs up or vetoing armloads of items chosen by teenagers! She found some school workbooks for 40 cents, a nice sweatshirt for Jon for $1.49, and a vintage doll...1966 Baby Tears...in the original dress! For three dollars.
Home...ah, she was glad to be home. She had fasted for the scan, eaten a "healthy" bar in the van...mmm hungry. She did some laundry, (Char was excited for her "new" Addidas shirt, so Mama had to wash it for her!)...anyway, Mama put a pork roast in the crock pot with lime sprinkled on it, and spices.....for pulled pork dinner. She washed a sinkful of dishes, and sat with Miss Camille, to go over her homework.
One of her favorite daughters came for a visit, Miss Mirielle...her travel companion for the upcoming cross-country trip...she showed Mirielle her supply of bars, and drinks, and snacks for the trip...all healthy, except for one bag of miniature Reese's Peanut Butter cups, just in case they got stranded, or really hungry for Reese's.
They asked each other the very same question, "Why are we doing this?" , yet they are both excited about the whole thing...an adventure!
This Mama is very distracted now, and can't concentrate relating her wonderfully sunny day. Her school kids are home...all eight of the "kids" who still live at home are milling around...some are singing, "Wanted...Dead Or Alive" to the top of their lungs, one is eating a pot pie, and one is pretending to push her sister down the stairs. This mama is done with writing...and shh, she is waiting waiting waiting for a phone call from the doctor, saying the scan is clear, and her pain is just...well, that's the tricky part....it has to be SOMETHING. Ah well....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I live in Erie County, New York. Have you ever heard about the super refund? I'm not sure what County you live in, but here in Erie County if you are overcharged on an item, the store has to pay you 10x the amount they overcharged you. Google it. And next time you are overcharged, ask them for the super refund. It is true, and I have used it at Tops and Walmart.
Here is our local link - just to give you the idea. But it's worth it to check to see if your county has this just in case it happens again.
http://wivb.com/2015/10/05/overcharged-at-checkout-lane-get-even-with-a-super-refund/
Love reading about your day! Fingers crossed!
Simone
I looked it up, and that seems to be a refund idea exclusively for Erie County. I am in Cayuga. Years ago, Walmart had a policy that if something rang up wrong, they would give you $3. The thing with universal product codes is that by removing the prices from the actual items, the stores violated many local laws, thus putting those policies into effect to appease the government...now we are so used to UPC symbols, and things being scanned instead of being rung up by punching actual numbers into the register...you really have to watch, because things ring up wrong almost every time.
Simone...thank you!
Had a CT Scan last February just before my appendix was removed. Did you have to drink the liter of water beforehand? And then it felt like you wet you pants when the dye moved through your body? Is your pain near you appendix or maybe you don't have it any more.
Oh darn. Hopefully Cayuga county will adapt it too.
Post a Comment