Sitting here petting my peeves

I’m sitting here petting my peeves today. The thunderstorm last night was pretty impressive. It woke me up about quarter to four in the morning. After finally falling asleep around 12:30, it was not enough to fuel my day. So I’ve been chugging along like a car with bad gas. This gives me plenty of time to think about what burns my buns.

Shopping center design heads the list every time. I want to know who dreamt up the bright idea to put a roadway between the parking lot and the store? Obviously not a mom with two small kids or an elderly person with a walker or a wheelchair user. Sure, the traffic is supposed to stop for pedestrians in the walkways, but the key word is “supposed”. The mood is that we want you to shop here but don’t park near us so that others can see our wonderful façade from the highway. Very welcoming indeed. I prefer to shop in a store that I can park near or at least have a half a chance of survival getting to and from my car.

While we are in the wonderful world of retail, let’s talk sale items that are out of stock in the first 30 seconds of the sale. Really?! I mean just confess to not getting the merchandise in and give me a rain check. You knew your flier in the paper was going to have this item. Be prepared.

And then there is customer service. While I have to admit some stores and service companies are falling over themselves making deliveries and loading pre-shopped groceries into my car, why is the post office completely faultless when it comes to a lost package? Why do I have part time internet when the provider sees no problem? Why is my wait time on hold 30 minutes?

I do have to admit the grocery services are right up my alley. Years of being dragged to the grocery store with my parents on Saturday morning has left me with a lifelong hatred of food shopping. Now any one of several companies will do that for you. Some will deliver, some will race them out to your car and load them in for you. I am in love! Now if they only put them away in the cabinets for you…

I don’t eat fast food much anymore but the condiment issue is over the top. I mean the stuff is fairly pricey for what you get (and I’m still not convinced my burger is cooked when I order it). It more than covers the cost of a few catsup packets or and spare barbecue sauce. OK, I get that you can’t give out a dozen hot mustards to a four piece nugget order, but two teeny cups for a ten piece meal especially if you have fries to dip?! Or a taco salad needs more than one packet of hot sauce. Just give me one extra if I ask and get over it.

The last issue that I will leave you with today before I get a juice box and a nap is instructions that were not well translated into English. Granted that manufacturing now takes place all over the globe, but hire someone who can translate into English correctly. There are tons of bilingual persons out there who have a great grasp of both languages. Please seek them out and use them. Pay attention to your printed directions. There is no reason why the directions for my light up holiday dog has the heading “Polar Bear Family”. Now I have to figure out if I have a polar bear or a basset hound.

Well there you have it. The biggies on the peeve-o-meter. Thanks for listening but it is nap time now for me and my polar bear.