- MEIJER MEMORY -

well, yesterday morning after kiara had gone to school, i decided to run some errands with karleigh - i didn't have a long time, but needed to get some things accomplished, so off we go

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karleigh asked if we could go to meijer & i didn't care, as many places here in town had what i needed, so i agreed - i knew she was wanting to go there due to them having these 'kid karts' that resemble a car & the kids can ride in them for $1 & watch a video the entire trip - the movie repeats itself over & over again, until you take it through a checkout scan & then as you pass 'a beam', it stops, wheels lock & you're finished (keep those last 7 words in mind for later)

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she & i walked in meijer, got a kid cart, got her in & we'd walked about 10 steps & it was then i remembered i needed to run to dad/mom's house & i really should've done that first & THEN went to meijer as it was already 9 & i'd to pick kiara up just after 11 - if i'd have went to dad/mom's first, then i could've stopped by meijer & used the rest of the free time i had & not been rushed - i say to karleigh, "hey karleigh, i forgot, but i need to run to nana's house for a minute, why don't we do that now & then we'll come back" - "but i don't waaaaaaaant to" - "i know, but we'll come back here later... i promise" - "alright, but i really want to stay"

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even though i'd lost $1 for nothing, it was going to work out better for me in the end (or so i thought) - off we went to nana's for about 1-1½ hours, then we picked kiara up, grabbed some lunch, got some gas, dropped off videos at the video store & then it was time for our fun-filled, *insert evil laugh here* memorable trip to meijer

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we walked in & i plopped both kiara & kaleigh in the kid cart (ruby wasn't home from school yet) - i'd asked karleigh if she wanted to sit at the steering wheel or in front of the movie screen & she picked the steering wheel (both people can see the movie, but only 1 gets to 'drive') - we'd walked about 10 steps (seems we've been here before, huh?) & kiara starts in - she was blocking the movie screen & karleigh couldn't see - i 'handled it' & we went on a few steps - kiara then was trying to make karleigh buckle up (i guess she thought there was going to be running involved for mommy on this shopping excursion or something) & karleigh was having no part of it & so kiara started whining (what every mommy loves to hear when they're busy, hot, no one's had a nap (including mommy), low on funds so needing to budget a bit, etc.)

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i then made kiara get out & walk (holding onto the cart), but the entire way all i heard was, "when can i get back in"", "is this like 'time out' or something?", "am i 'bout done?", "i'm finished", etc. & was driving me nuts - i kept getting onto her, smacking occasionally, etc., but she was in it for the loooooong haul - some might be saying, "why ddidn't i just take them home & let them go to bed?" - answer: well, i couldn't as we weren't able to go back home until 4:15 as we'd a house showing again

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i filled my cart & was heading to the checkout (still watching karleigh smile at kiara from inside the kid cart as if to say, "hahaha, i'm in here & you're not!", still listening to kiara beg, plead & whine to get in with karleigh, still being hot, etc.)

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i get to the checkout & go to the Uscan (also known as the UTSBCWM: you can try & scan it, but the bar codes on most of what you're wanting to purchase will either be wrong or missing!!) - i scanned the first item - BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, (no, it wasn't foul language that was getting beeped) some alarms starts going off as i tried to purchase something that had a wrong bar code (geee, really?) - i sat it aside as i was getting 4 of these items so certainly 1 of them will be coded right...WRONG!! - my lane was beeping more than a firetruck engine backing up - i looked at the lady (we'll call her helen) & said, "i'll just not get these 4 things as i really don't have time to wait - helen smiled, walked over to me, took the 4 items, cleared my screen & said, "you can try again" - i scanned everything else with ease (YEAH!!) & then went to pay - i'd a simon gift card that spike had given me, but i didn't know how much $ was on it so i told helen, "i'll use this card (holding up the simon gift card) & then i'll pay the rest with my debit" - she said, "does it say 'gift card' on it?" - "yep", i say & proceeded to scan mr simon - BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, here we go again - she came over & said, "ma'am, i forgot, but you've got to put in ahead of time, the amount that's available on the card" - "but, i don't know the balance", i said - "well, you can go to customer service & they'll help you", sweet helen said - i said, "you mean to tell me, i've gotta load all the things back into the cart, take smiley & whiny all the way down there for the to tell me how much's on the card, then come back down here & start over???" - she says (being nice), "well, you can just leave everything here (i DON'T think she meant the kids) & go down there as no one's in line behind you" (NO, BECAUSE EVERYONE THAT WAS IN LINE'S GOT FED UP & LEFT!) - i thanked her & walked down there, smacked simon on the counter & said, "i need my balance" - the lady standing before me (we'll call her eva) says, "oh honey, you've got to do that at the registers, we don't have the capability to do it here" - i said nothing, but walked back to helen (yes, with smiley & whiny) - karleigh climbs back into the kid cart & kiara resumes her place at the 'handle holding' station

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i then tell helen what eva said & she goes, "oh, i'm sooooo sorry, but you're right - they just started allowing us to use the simon cards at the register last week & i forgot" - GRRRRRR - i rescanned everything 1 more time & then asked her to come help - she comes over & says, "well, i can't handle your card, but i'll show you what to do" - i scan it... nothing - i scan it again... nothing - i look at helen & she says, "well, maybe do it faster" - i scan at lightning speed... nothing - "what about slower", helen suggested - i scanned like a turtle... nothing

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it was then i looked straight into helens eyes for the first time & said, "forget it, i'm leaving - i'm hot, i've got 2 cranky kids that haven't had a nap today, nothing will scan right, i've had to go from one register to another just to be sent back to the first one, i've scanned fast & i've scanned slow... i'm finished" - it was then i just walked off, pushing a stupid kid cart that by now has loooong had the wheels locked & it will NOT push easily - i get to the door to leave, reach in to get karleigh, give her a nudge, pull, yank only to find out she's strapped herself & the buckle is stuck!! - i give up