The Grumpy Old Fart Customer

So here we are in the New Year, a time for renewal, new beginnings, a second chance to correct all the failures of the past year—right?  Well, I guess I am the eternal pessimist where this is concerned.  Every New Years Eve at midnight (shortly after the loving kiss to your partner), we make a new promise(s) of things that we are going to improve over the next twelve months.  These pledges (New Year’s Resolutions) include: stop smoking, lose weight, make more money, be a better partner or just become a better person in general.

Noble as all these promises seem, we, as a society, really suck at keeping them.  For many, the resolutions we make rarely last more than a week or two before the excuses to quit them begin.  Our resolve to keep these promises fail in a myriad of different excuses that prevent us from keeping our word.  Yet, every year, we the people, make these silly promises.

I have an example that I want to share with you; the average American’s promise to lose weight and get back into shape.  So, what does this promise require of us, what is necessary to accomplish this lofty goal?  Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is dieting, that horrible culinary nightmare that usually consists of celery sticks and carrots.  Don’t forget the diet shakes and frozen meals that all the celebrities love to pimp to pad their already rich nest eggs.

Then there is the solution that always promises the desired results—workout clubs.  Every year, millions of Americans suffering from done-lop (belly done lopped over the belt) disease flock to their nearest 24/7/365, state of the art workout club.  They plunk down the discounted amount of money (as promised by the latest TV and Radio Ads) for an annual membership that will lead them to the promised land.

Then it begins, the steps that will reduce our pant sizes, improve our health and restore our dignity at the local bar or the popular party set.  But first, you must go out and buy the most trendy, expensive workout outfit that money can buy.  Then, of course, you need all the best technology pieces that will enable you to text while working out (you can’t expect them to live without that).  Add in a trendy water bottle and the ensemble is complete.

What happens next, I have witnessed for myself and continue to be very amused by it.  On January 2 the workout clubs are flooded with new faces, the place is wall-to-wall with health conscience wannabees.  Several new faces pack the place with the same goal; to fulfill their New Year’s resolution.

What used to be a daily concert of keeping fit now becomes a dance with the clueless.  People who work out on a regular basis have routines that they develop to challenge their body’s resistant to change.  This routine usually includes numbered sets of exercises that work in symphony with muscles to increase their size or definition and usually remove that old demon—fat.

Introduce the workout newbies who are not even sure of how the process works and you have a cluster f___k with no rhyme or reason.  I have been through this and always found it incredibly annoying.  For example; I would complete a set of a routine on a weight machine, I would then move to a different machine for a different muscle group.  Upon arrival at the next machine, you find a newbie setting there texting their friends or checking their stocks for the latest price change.  Or maybe it is the person who has no idea how to adjust a machine or for that matter how it works.

Here’s my personal favorite; “the coffee klatch”, yes, the group of four or more people who must catch up on the week’s events.  Most exercise routines include a brief rest period then you start the next exercise, this is tough to do when every machine that meets your needs are clogged with people marveling over little Jimmy’s first fart.  Some of these aspiring health nuts do get training from the club staff, but even that is annoying as the staff must spend 20 minutes or more demonstrating a machine.  You spend your entire time at the club trying to modify your routine to accommodate the clueless wonder who circles a machine 5 times before going to get assistance.

Ah, then there is the track (if the club has one), where there are some simple rules to follow, including which direction to go and that slow traffic must stay to the inside part of the lanes.  It never fails that there are four walkers on the track, walking abreast of each other, blocking the entire track.  This klatch always includes the deep conversations such as; who is sleeping with who, who had a tummy tuck or (and this is my favorite) “you will never guess what he/she said”.

The last part of your routine generally includes some variety of cardiovascular workout, this includes cross trainers, bikes or rowing machines.  This area never fails to contain a laugh or two.  My favorite is the person on the bike who is barely peddling fast enough to remove the accumulated dust from the machine (assuming they don’t clean this club), let alone boost their cardio level above that of a comatose person.  And of course, every machine is taken by these fitness dreamers who are not walking or peddling fast enough to disturb a fly or mix cake batter.

But wait, there’s more!  The flood of newly resolved exercisers occurs during the best workout hours of the day; before work and after work—yea!  It’s not bad enough that you must fight bumper-to-bumper traffic both on the way to work and coming home which adds to unhealthy stress. Now you have the same dilemma at the one place where you try to find some peace and a semblance of achievement.  It is as bad as a crowded store but at least at the club, you can normally take out your aggression in a productive (and for that matter–legal) way.

There is good news, my friends, the duration of this fresh new hell is generally less than a month.  Usually by mid-February, around Valentines Day, most of the revolutionists disappear, they have already given up on their goal because they have not lost 50 pounds or 5 pant sizes.  So, take heart, this workout dilemma is short lived, thank God for the lack of commitment.

All right, I know what you are thinking, you have seen the photos of old Grumpy and it is obvious that he hasn’t been in a workout facility in a while.  Well, I guess that will be my resolution for this New Year, to return to the workout club and get back into shape, wait, oh shit, I will be one the revolutionists! Happy New Year!

Talk To Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 all Rights Reserved

Well, another year has come and gone.  2018 was a year of incredible oddities, especially in politics.  The whole thing leaves you wondering how much longer we can continue this charade of lies and deceptions.  Maybe 2019 will be the turning point for our nation to solve its many problems (kind of doubt it).  Meanwhile, at midnight, everyone will make the annual promises/goals that few ever keep.

I have a hope that the billionaire corporations who rule our food and product companies will make a New Year’s resolution themselves—to provide better quality products to customers.  Recently, during one of my usual jaunts to a regional food store, I purchased a sandwich (an Italian Club) that looked delicious.  Hungry and absolutely stoked about this sandwich, I sat down at home and began my quest for appetite satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the first bite of the sandwich revealed a taste that could not be associated with any kind of Italian meat, at least none that I have ever tasted.  The taste of the sandwich made stale ass seem like a step up.  It became very apparent, very quickly that the sandwich was not edible.  This sandwich was no cheap acquisition, costing over 8 bucks, and was labeled “gourmet”.  Really?  My dog turned his nose up at it and walked away.

This was not the only bad food experience I have had lately, a week ago while shopping at a different regional store, I picked up a package of ice cream drumsticks.  Again, very pumped up over the delectable delight that awaited me, I was once again disappointed.  It seems that the drumsticks had been melted then refrozen, looking like they had been run over by a truck.  I had just enough health classes in high school to understand that these drumsticks are not edible.

Now, of course, I could get a full refund, but that’s not the point here, how many other food products are not maintained at a safe (not to mention legal) temperature?  Many food items could thaw or be allowed to heat up without showing outward signs of poor preservation.  I have recently read where cases of food poisoning are on the rise in the US.  Go figure!  It was obvious in the case of the sandwich that the meat was spoiled.

So, here is your chance Corporate America, make a new resolution to give us customers quality products that we can consume without fear of becoming a statistic.  Even if food is discounted, it does not give you the right to poison people.  Everyone works hard for the few dollars that they earn and deserve the right to safe, edible food and decent quality products.

As for me, my New Year’s resolution for 2019 is to continue to be Grumpy and to point out every occasion where we customers get screwed by billionaires whose only love and concern are for money.  HAPPY NEW YEAR YA” LL!

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The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved

Well, Christmas is in the books for another 364 days, so now what?  It is now time for the hoard of post-holiday discounts.  You know, the days of post-holiday shopping hangover that lingers for the next few weeks.  Just when you thought the stores would return to normal, here comes a whole new wave of crazed shoppers, this time sniffing out the bargains.

Recently, I discovered an article released by one of the most prominent universities in America, the study has debunked the discount façade that mesmerizes post-holiday shoppers (check it out yourself by searching for fake discount studies).  The research paper determined that corporations do extensive studies to understand price points and price allure (my words).  The purpose of these studies is to simply understand how to price products to give them added value.

Once this is accomplished, corporations give suggested prices to resellers, maximizing each of their profits.  Then in down shopping cycles (such as December 26), prices can be reduced to make them look like bargains.  So, the initial price offering is far above the cost of producing an item (remember cheap labor), and profits are juicy.   Corporations have found a way to add value to their product look higher in quality or a better discount purchase.

There are a couple of things that really piss me off here; first, we customers are continually viewed as “lab rats”, being studied to see just how high we will jump for the right piece of cheese.  Then, there is the deception of making people believe that they are getting these “great buys”, when the truth is, the product really was overpriced, to begin with.  All these studies are an effort to understand our “perceptions”, so every time you go shopping you are seeing products created out of our psyches.

I have said it before and I will say it again; we customers are nothing more than just dots on a graph.  Nothing is real anymore, so just ignore that man behind the curtain!

Talk To Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved

Let me explain first, I am not a Christian, I follow a more spiritual or maybe agnostic path, possibly sprinkled with a little science just for good measures (but, that’s not important right now).  However, when it came to the “Holidays”, I was raised with a leaning towards Christianity, so we celebrated Christmas.  I do, however, enjoy and respect many of the aspects of other holiday celebrations—Kwanzaa, Hanukah or maybe even Winter Solstice.

Christmas has a history of both Christian and secular traditions, but I am not going to get into all of that here.  What I am going to talk about is the change of Christmas from a celebration of beliefs and spirit to that of materialism.  Christmas has become a contest to see who can put the most presents under the highly coveted Christmas tree.  Every year the most widely read Christmas material as it turns out is the shopping list.  From the post-Halloween discussions to the last minute, frantic calls in December, the Christmas shopping list has become a sacred document.

So, what caused the change from seasonal joy to holiday heartburn?  Many people today do not even fully understand what the holidays stand for: peace on earth, goodwill towards men or any other traditional meanings.  We go through the motions every year, but they have become so mechanized that we don’t even realize there is a holiday, except for the need to shop.  Christmas has simply become a date on a calendar where we all struggle to get family outings on the schedule and pray that we bought the right gifts.

I have a theory; Since 2016 we have been told that everything has been hacked by Russian trolls, this is especially true of our presidential election.  So, doesn’t it make sense that 14 Russians hackers (via social media) have destroyed our beloved Christmas?  Maybe they have influenced us through hypnotic ads that have sent us into this commercially induced coma.  Maybe this was the plan, to destroy us from within, using the most celebrated holiday on the planet.

Ok, all of you who believe that, raise your hands.  Of course, this is absurd, we have been heading down this path for over fifty years now.  The commercialization of Christmas began in the late 1960s and accelerated during the period of massive mall expansion.  The gluttony that has reached its apex with the bankruptcy of hundreds of retail businesses.  Greed is the sole actor in what has changed a holiday of happiness and cheer into a graph that measures us like sand through an hourglass.

Retailers became corporate behemoths whose only objective was profits, ultimately leaving millions jobless in the wake of it’s collapse.  Christmas became the opportunist holiday, where customers would be preyed upon by countless thousands of holiday advertisements, sales flyers and finally the dreaded “Black Friday”, a disease that has given a new name to compulsion.

I have viewed some of the other holiday celebrations first hand and for the most part, they have remained intact and have totally avoided this affliction that destroys meaning.  Isn’t time for all of us still celebrating Christmas to reinvent ourselves, to begin embracing what is good in life (while we still can) and simply enjoy each other and our love for life?  Maybe stop spending 3 months every year agonizing about what materialistic shit everyone wants or needs?  With the death of malls, this condition is not going away, instead, we now use the internet to make a freakin billionaire an even bigger billionaire.  We just serve a new master now!

As we celebrate the holidays this year and every year after, my hope is that we can begin to look for a better meaning in life, that people can begin to enjoy life again for its simplistic pleasures and meaning.  I hope that we can come up with leaders who will value people and not the dollar over people.  And lastly, stop blaming the Russians!  To you all, I wish the best of holidays (no matter which one you celebrate), peace on earth and goodwill to all…………Happy Holidays!

Talk To Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved

Christmas has always been a holiday where decorations adorn the landscape of every town with tinsel and lights.  This was also the case in virtually every neighborhood where I grew up, every house had lights, most of which were candle flame shaped, and somewhat muted in a soft glow of various colors that were typical of the incandescent lights of the time.  Every neighborhood glowed in a beautiful cascade of colors that seem to illuminate the night.  But now, that has all changed.

On Halloween, I touched on the craziness that seems to come with decorating houses these days, just how overboard some people can go.  Couple that with the advent of light emitting diodes and the Christmas light landscape has forever changed.  It is no longer about the glow of warmth and beauty but rather the intent to blind people or sends them into a seizure.

In my neighborhood, I have the perfect example of this absurdity.  One household in my neighborhood has so many light emitting diodes on it that it can be easily seen from space, it literally looks like daylight anywhere within 1000 yards of the place.  And here is the kicker; the lights flash in a sequence that ends with all of them beaming their brightest light.  If you are driving past the home when the lights reach their luminous crescendo, it is literally impossible to see the parked cars that must be navigated through safely to reach your home.  It is the Christmas version of some apocalyptic video game where you can’t restart if you fail.

There should be a law that requires signs being posted, warning of the danger of possible seizures from the flashing lights.  I totally get the spirit of the holidays and I have always loved the decorations but when did they become a Pink Floyd concert?  I could understand it better (maybe) on the 4^th of July, but the holidays are supposed to be about peace on earth, not shock and awe!

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The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All rights Reserved

I would like to stop for a moment and explain my writings here.  Recently, articles began to surface regarding complaints about the chocolate candies wrapped in foil (synonym: smooches), seems that most of them sold during the holidays had their tips broken off.  This defect made the candies unappealing, especially when baking them on cookies.

This tragic situation resulted in numerous angry and vitriolic responses from people displeased about the look of a piece of candy.  To say this is petty is an extreme understatement, if a deformed piece of candy is the worse thing that happens to you today, I would say you are in pretty good shape.  One person went so far as to bitch about how bad her cookies looked after baking.  Really, this is what sets you off in a world that is filled with hate, war and almost hopelessness?  I could maybe understand this if it were deformed Easter bunnies, oh, the humanity!

Now, I know that I use this blog to do some bitching myself, however, my reason for doing this is to point out that in some cases we are severely disrespected as customers.   Because I shop mostly at discounted stores, does that mean my money isn’t worth as much as those who shop at elitist stores?  My belief is that anyone who earns money deserves the same respect even if they earn less than others.  And corporate billionaire pricks became corporate billionaire pricks because many of us spend our hard-earned cash at their establishments.

I guess my point here, is that it seems somewhat petty and even infantile to bitch about a deformed piece of candy when there are many more serious problems out there.  I would be willing to bet that most of the people bitching about this are in the upper 9% income bracket or near-wealthy as I call them.  So sorry that their sterile, uppity little world has been so rocked by this tragedy.  Maybe we could hold a candlelight vigil to honor these people with a prayer to help them endure this unthinkable act.

My efforts here are to honor those who work hard, often for little pay (certainly not what many jobs should pay) and are oft treated like cattle in stores owned by billionaire bastards (often white elitist), who don’t pay employees well, give them benefits or simply treat them with respect.  And, I also honor the customer, who makes up nearly 75% of our nations Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and various other economic indicators.  I understand that the customer isn’t always right but most of the time they are.

I will try in the future to only write about things are truly annoying where customer treatment and service are concerned.  I will do my very best not to bitch about trivial matters such as a broken piece of candy.

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved

Even as I am slowing down and entering the final stage of life, I still cannot bring myself to enjoy the process of shopping.  In the earlier stages of my life, I was too busy running the rat race to notice what a pain in the ass shopping really is.  That feeling is now increasing as I have slowed down enough to get a good look at the event, we call shopping.

My shopping routine happens on Sunday morning, usually between the hours of 9-10 am.  Normally, these are the golden hours for going to store as most of the faithful are in church and most of the late-night crowd is still asleep.  However, by 11 AM all that changes, as the stores become a bustling nightmare of crazed, cell phone addicted assailants.  So, the sweet spot of shopping happens in that 9-10 AM window when the stores are usually very empty, and shopping is a breeze.  Well, the managers at my local store with the smiling faces have found a way to change that.

Now, during my chosen hours of shopping, the store has decided to do restocking of the shelves. What this all amounts to is every friggin aisle of the store is block by 5 or 6 very tall carts obstructing everything.  Ok, I understand that Saturdays can be very busy shopping days and the shelves emptied of their bounty.   My store is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, so I have a question; can’t they restock this facility at 3AM when no one is there?

Having to play dodgeball with all of these shelve stockers takes an additional hour from my day that I will never get back.  I had finally begun to manage my frustration with shopping, then they add this mess to the mix.  It really doesn’t make any sense to wait until store traffic is increasing to block half of the store and make shopping a less enjoyable experience (like it needs help with that).

My guess here is, as with many other things that have made being a customer less enjoyable, low pay and little incentives make it difficult to find people to work late night/early morning hours to complete a task such as shelf restocking.  It really shouldn’t take a lot of management or thought as there is a blueprint for putting things where they belong.  If customer service or happiness really meant anything to corporate criminals, then there would always be an effort to maximize the shopping experience instead of putting up roadblocks.

I guess this will require a change in my shopping strategy, that will require setting the alarm earlier and race to the store not only to beat the onslaught of shoppers but also the stocking crew.  What this means is that every shopping day has now become “Black Friday” —-Criminy!

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved

As I had written in a previous post, I recently visited one of the membership-only, retail warehouse shopping clubs.  After a harrowing experience with the club gas station (as previously written), I entered the warehouse and suddenly remembered why I despise retail.  This place truly is a warehouse, with all the warmth of a military depot but they have everything you could ever need.  From bulk food, auto and tire supply, flowers, toys, electronics, hell, they even have mattresses and furniture!

To confirm my impression of this facility resembling a military depot, the first product display that I came across was a two-pack offering of military grade ammo cans—I shit you not!   So, besides ammo, what are these containers used for–planters, shoe racks or maybe sewing boxes?  I pondered this question (though not for long), wondering if the next display would be mortar shells?

Ok, my initial impression of the club warehouse is that it was created for the survivalist-prepper.  As I move on through the maze of overstocked aisles that resemble an army surplus installation, I am blown away by the things are sold in large quantities.  For example; creamed corn, yes that creamy, yummy delight on the plate that your mother made you finish, or you couldn’t go outside.  I can’t wait to move on as I am sure there will be caseloads of spam just waiting for anxious buyers to snap up!

Then I discover 53oz tubs of slime, I had to ask what purpose this slime serves, I thought you usually buy products that prevent slime.  I was told that kids like to play with it.  Ok, why do kids need slime to play with, the tide packs are no longer satisfying?  I guess the next thing we will be hearing is that it snorts very nicely when added to bath salts.  The label says it is the best slime on the market, I beg to differ, the best slime is found in Washington.

Ok, I move on, next is the refrigerated food section where a very disinterested looking person is handing out free samples of crab.  Wow, the store carries crab, now I am impressed!  However, after sampling this white and red rubbery thing that probably doesn’t taste any better than the slime that I noted earlier, I discovered while reading the package that the product is labeled “imitation crab meat” and upon further examination, it is made from white fish.  The sample person told me it is crab, isn’t there some law against misrepresentation of a product?  However, you can purchase it in case quantity!

Oh, did I forget to mention the shopping carts?  The carts are on steroids, basically about one and a half times the size of regular grocery store shopping carts.  These wide beauties are perfectly built to carry several cases of creme corn, canned spinach or spam.  Plus, there is enough room on the rack underneath the carts to slide a carton of 5 lawn chairs on it comfortably.

Man, these stores have it all, once you finish picking up all your prepper supplies and ammo cases then (for the young romantics in the place) you can shop for—jewelry!  That’s right, for those of you in the mood for matrimony, there are several diamond ring options right there in the case.  Imagine dazzling your friends this evening at the cocktail party then telling them you purchased this timeless beauty at the same time you bought a couple packs of ammo boxes.  And for those of you do-it-yourselfer jewels, you can get a bulk quantity of cubic-zirconium for a very low price.

So now you are ready to check out, you have three of the over-sized carts in tow, filled to the brim with caseloads of everything the family will need for a few months.  After checking out with your club card and club credit card you head for the parking lot.  The weight of the over-sized carts is so great that it requires the assistance of a diesel locomotive to haul them out to your car.

So, once again, we see that Corporate America continues to dominate retail (and every other type of business for that matter) by successfully replacing every boutique and mom and pop store with these ginormous, void of any warmth or character, behemoth warehouses.  Can’t wait for these warehouse clubs to start offering healthcare, well, at least you will be able to pick up your prescription by the caseload.

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2108 All Rights Reserved

I am sure that all of you are familiar with the discount membership-warehouse store-club concept.  This week, I paid a visit to one those clubs for the first time in many years.  I don’t live close enough to a club for the discounts to be worth the cost of driving there.  The club of choice was the one named after the founder of the smiley face discount store.

Upon arrival, the club was crowded (of course, as this is the holiday season), and parking anywhere near the store was a challenge.  So, I began the typical pursuit of the perfect parking place, you know, one as close as possible to the front door, even though you need some additional exercise.  After two trips around the place, I turn into what looks like a traffic lane, only to discover that I have just pulled into a very long line of cars waiting for gas at the discount club filling station!

The membership-only club offers membership-only gas prices, usually about twenty cents cheaper than the average American gas station.  So, here I am trapped in the middle of 200 cars waiting for their turn at the pump of cheap gas.  Desperately looking for an escape as I don’t need gas, my tank is full, and even if I did, I wouldn’t wait this long if the gas were free!  The wait for your turn at the pump is running about an hour, as indicated by an electronic sign that is seemingly there just to mock my predicament.  I have successfully found retail-purgatory!

My passenger bravely jumps out of the car to politely ask some fellow drivers to our right if they would allow us to pull over into the parking lot.  We have managed to escape the grid-lock of cheaper gas prices and so it is on to the experience awaiting us inside the shopping club (more on this in another blog).

Now, I have looked at this situation and I have some questions.  The savings of fuel as a club member is about 20 cents per gallon.  Is that savings worth an hour of your life, not to mention the absolute headache of navigating the line of crazed discounters?  Does everyone have an hour daily to kill while waiting for your turn at the pump, I know, lunch right?

If my mathematics are good then here is the breakdown: the average tank size of vehicles on the road is about 15 gallons, if you are saving 20 cents per gallon, the total savings is $3.00.  Is an hour of your life only worth $3.00?  Not to mention the fact that some people burn more than three dollars to drive to one these clubs for the discount.  This qualifies as retail-insanity and seems to be the norm in this country.  We never really stop and use any sense in making purchases we simply use the fact that one thing is cheaper so that must be worth it.

Maybe it is coincidence that everyone going shopping that day happens to run out of gas just as they arrive at the store, I doubt it.  Or is this further evidence of the constant quest to find discounts for everything that we use since wages are not going up?  In any event, these places are a nightmare of time-killing, frustrating function.

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved

Recently, I took a cruise through the Inside Passage of Alaska, it is without question one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on earth.  Its beauty is virtually unequaled, with a magic and serenity that can virtually lower blood pressure by 20 points instantly.  To say this land is post card picturesque does not do it justice.

But hidden amongst all that beauty and serenity are very large traps, no, not the kind that gets bears, wolves or seals, but rather human traps.  Yes, that’s right—human traps.  They come in the form of stores (mostly jewelry), you are lured into the traps by bait that comes in the form of freebees.  The cruise lines lead the way in baiting the traps by handing out little books that offer all kinds of free trinkets, baubles and beads at each store.

The largest of these tourist trap cities are Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway Alaska.  The cities have given license to several jewelry and other tourist type stores that line the dock area of all three cities.  This makes it virtually impossible to get to other attractions without passing through the gauntlet of carnival barkers trying desperately to lure you into their web (store).  And, the books given out by the cruise lines offer three different trinkets that require visits to three stores in all three cities, so to get the set you must stop in all locations.

So, after spending half of your day locked into the one place that I went on vacation to escape in the first place, I am pitched by every flim-flam person in the northern hemisphere.  To make matters that much more aggravating, what they sell in these stores is overpriced junk.  What really pisses me off about this is that little is ever mentioned in the promotional materials about the barrage of trinket hawkers you will encounter.  Most of the promotional materials shows the natural beauty of the region, and there is much to see, but there is little mention of the retail molestation that awaits your departure from the ship.

Now, be very certain that unless you are traveling alone (and that might be a little weird), one member of the group will want to go and collect all the free trinkets (estimated collective value: $5.00).  And, if you are traveling with children, brace yourself, the company with the cutesy little mouse has a trap all its own.  The mouse company offers all its cute, lovable characters available at all of its stores, to be added onto a charm bracelet (parents—this where your day is going!).

Now, here is my question: why would anyone go out to one of the most beautiful, natural places on earth and be bombarded by the very thing that plagues us—retail hell?  Maybe it is the fact that these cities have opened their shores to the seemingly endless supply of peddlers looking for the fast buck that bothers me most.  It seems that no matter where we go, we are plagued by the infestation of the rat-race!

Talk to Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2018 All Rights Reserved