Simple Randomness

Has Good Customer Service Died???

More and more I’m wondering what happened to the day when good customer service actually existed.  Now I don’t think that it’s completely dead, but it seems to be going down the tubes with a lot of companies.

Here’s an example.  A few weeks ago my wife and I went to return an item to an unnamed department store.  When we bought the item, the lady rang it up wrong.  We called her on it, but she insisted it was right.  We weren’t worried because the price was the same anyway.

So when we take it back, we decided to do it without a receipt and just get store credit so as not to be confusing.  So when we get to customer service desk, we explain to the lady what happened.  She then put her head in her hands, groaned, and said, “So you want to return this without a receipt and it was rung up wrong anyway?!”  Not cool…

What happened to the days when it was more like, “Oh, well let me see what I can do with that.” or at least something nice?!  In the end she was able to just give us store credit anyway, but first she had to talk down to us.

Granted, this isn’t always the case, but has any one else noticed that for the most part customer service seems to be lacking out there?

Why Would You Wear Sunglasses at the Gym?

So I’m at the gym today, and I saw at least 2 guys wearing sunglasses while they were working out.

What’s up with that?

Are they trying to check out girls and don’t want to be seen doing it?  Or worse, are they checking out guys and don’t want to be seen doing it?

It’s weird enough to wear sunglasses inside, but if you wear them in the gym I can only think of a few reasons other than the two above:

• You just had an eye exam but didn’t want to miss your workout (not likely)
• You think you’re cool (you’re really not, sorry)
• You think you’re some kind of poker king and forgot to take them off

I mean seriously, why would you do that? Can you tell I’m baffled???

To Be Close or Far From Family…

So my wife and I go back and forth on how we feel about this, but lately we’ve really been feeling that we would like to get away from family for awhile.  Family is nice and all, and they make great babysitters, but sometimes the drama is just too much if you know what I mean!

It’s funny because we also switch back and forth between which family we’re the most annoyed with.  So we’re thinking maybe it would just be good to get away completely for a few years or something.  We’ll see what happens.

Anyone else have problems with family?  Really, it’s not like any thing major has happened, but sometimes it really just seems like it would be really good for us to get away and be our own family for awhile.  Of course, then we would probably have to deal with visits…. now I’m wondering which is worse!

Halloween is a Dumb Holiday

Ok ok, I know that its a little early for this, but honestly I think that Halloween is a dumb holiday.  For some reason I was thinking about it today so I thought I’d write about it.

I thought it was kinda cool when I was a kid, but that was just because of all the free candy. That’s it, nothing more.

My real problem with Halloween is this: when did it become a ’sexy’ holiday?  I mean seriously.  I thought it was all about kids dressing up like little ghosts and witches and stuff.  But I think the movie Mean Girls said it best when one of the girls says, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”  Sadly that is what this holiday has become.

For example, there’s this website called Costume Cauldron, and one of their keywords on their home page is ‘Sexy Adults.’  Even they are promoting the new sexy Halloween. Then on the home page some of the costumes that come up are ’sexy vixen pirate wench’ and ’sexy eskimo cutie.’  This is just retarded…

One thing I will say for Halloween though is that if you keep it for the kids, it still is a lot of fun.  Last year we took my son around as a monkey and he was totally cute. Toddler Halloween costumes are really cute, just because they are all about the fun of the holiday, not the bad side of it.

Needless to say, I would be totally happy if they didn’t have this holiday at all.  And sites like Costume Cauldron honestly annoy me.  But in the end, my kid loved it.  So for the time being I will still probably be involved to some degree in Halloween, just for my kids sake.  So I guess in the end there is still a need for these kinds of companies and sites.  But really, can we stop with the ’sexiness’ of Halloween already?

All My Least Favorite Foods Keep Ending Up Being Dangerous!

I have to admit something: I really really don’t like tomatoes.  For anyone that really knows me, this comes as no surprise.  Sure, I love salsa and all that, or in other words some foods that contain tomatoes, but to eat them plain?  You won’t see me do it!  I always take them off my hamburgers, sandwiches, etc.

So when I recently heard that there was a salmonella problem with tomatoes, I figured it was just another sign that tomatoes are of the devil.  I had a similar feeling a few years ago when there was that E. Coli breakout with spinach.  But, I really don’t have it in for spinach like I do for tomatoes, in fact I actually really like cooked spinach.   I digress…

For those of you that like tomatoes - good for you.  I on the other hand will continue to hate them, and now I even have more good reason to because I really don’t want to risk getting salmonella!

Dads Are More Important than ‘Grads’

So, for the last who knows how long they always seem to lump Father’s Day with Graduation.  I know it’s catchy to say “Dad’s and Grad’s” and all, but it seems to me that by saying this we’re getting the suggestion that Dads don’t deserve their own holiday.  It’s like they’re just not important enough.

I think I’m thinking about this more lately because I’m a father myself.  I would hate for my kids to compare me with some of the ‘father figures’ that are portrayed in TV these days.  What happened to the shows that had great dad’s like the Cosby Show and others?

I have to admit that I get a little annoyed when I see ads on TV or hear them on the radio where the guy is the idiot in the family.  And it seems to becoming more and more this way.  Is that what we’re being portrayed as?

I know that I don’t want that stereotype to be what my kids think of me.  And I think its up to all of us Fathers to really stand up and be the best fathers that we can be.  So happy Father’s Day to all you Dad’s out there.  I know this year I’ll be thinking about what I can do to better deserve the day and not be lumped in with the Grads.

A Little Rant About Gas Prices and Liberals

Ok, I have to go on a little rant right now.  Normally I won’t do this, but I get so sick and tired of hearing all this stuff about how the gas prices being high is all some big conspiracy and blah blah blah.

That’s not even the thing that really bugs me right now.  Today I read a blog post (I won’t bother saying where) that went off on some ‘Big Oil’ ad that was promoting getting off foreign oil and using our own resources because demand is going to be higher by 2030 and we need to be independent.  I agree with those statements; we need to be using our own resources.

But instead, this ‘liberal’ (I’ll use that term lightly because I hate stereotypes, but it’s the only word that fits right now) had to go on the offensive because it was an ad by ‘Big Oil.’  And what was the line of attack?  If we increase our use of oil we’re going to increase gas emissions and kill the planet by then!

You’ve got to be kidding me!  The fact is that we are an oil dependent nation.  And right now we are getting high prices because we’re so dependent on everyone else in the world for our energy supply!  I agree that we need to find alternative ways of getting energy, but ethanol sure isn’t the answer.  And it seems to me that until we can get oil under control, we’re going to have a hard time really producing other reliable resources.

So why don’t we drill our own oil?  Because for some reason in this country we are paralyzed by the environmentalists and other groups that really should have no business directing policy.  It’s really quite sad.

But by biggest annoyance to people like this other blogger is that they can come up with all these reasons why we shouldn’t do something, but they have no solutions of what we should do.  They just complain about how whatever a ‘republican’ decides has to be evil and after money.  So my question to her and anyone else with that line of thinking: you got a better idea?

One solution: nuclear energy.  Nope, can’t do that, environmentalists say no.

Another solution: build more of our own refineries.  Nope, can’t do that one either because of environmentalist wackos.

Drill for oil in Alaska?  Nope, you’ll kill caribou.  Caribou?!?  You’re telling me that you would put caribou above the welfare of millions of people?  I’m sure the caribou will adapt, they have for a long time!!!

Ok, this rant has gone in several different directions.  But hey, that’s the nature of rants right?  I just get so tired of hearing about all the things that we aren’t allowed to do for one reason or another.  I’m tired of the complaints and excuses of what we can’t do but no alternative solutions to what we can do.  When does it stop?

I’m hoping that someday soon in this country we get some leaders that will do what needs to be done and not be paralyzed by those people who just want to get in the way.  We need solutions, not restrictions!

Going Over On Cell Phone Minutes

I went over on my cell phone minutes again this month!  I really wish that there was a better way to handle the whole cell phone thing, cause man do they slap you when you go over!

My big problem right now is that we don’t use a home phone.  We just use our cells for everything and so far it’s worked out really well.  But lately my wife has had to make a lot of calls to doctors offices and places like that.  And you know what that means…they put you on hold forever!

I’m starting to wonder if the doctor’s offices and cell phone companies and in cahoots with each other…maybe when you call in on a cell phone they purposefully put you on hold just so they can collect on the overage you have to pay for your minutes.  Ok probably not, but it makes you wonder sometimes!

One of My Least Favorite Things: Yawning…

Ok, this is a little bit of a gripe.  I hate yawning.  Whenever I get in one of those spells where I just can’t stop yawning I get really annoyed.  Does anyone else agree with me on this one?  I mean it has to be one of the most annoying things in the world.  You may not even feel tired or anything but your body decides that it’s time to open your most really wide and breathe funny.  I’m getting annoyed just talking about it…

Does anyone really know what causes yawns?  I don’t think I’ve ever heard a good explanation of it, at least one that really made sense.  And what’s with them being contagious?  I actually saw a Myth Busters episode about it once, and if I remember right they proved that it wasn’t actually contagious.

I better stop talking about this before I curse myself into a yawning fit…

What is it? Who Can Wear the Brightest Shirt???

Ok, here’s a random annoyance.  Where I work they have these TVs in the room that are always set to CNBC.  That’s the first thing, you think we could have something more entertaining on.  But here’s the real annoyance.  I’ve noticed over the last couple of days that some of the female anchors are wearing progressively brighter clothing.

Is this some sort of contest???

Today one of them is wearing bright yellow, another is wearing bright pink.  Yesterday it was orange and white.  If the TV wasn’t distracting enough…now every time one of them comes on I have to almost block my eyes from the neon shirts they are all wearing!  I swear it’s a contest because it wasn’t this way just a few weeks ago.

Is this really necessary?  Do we have to try to brighten up the news by using neon colors?  Why not brighten up the news by actually reporting on positive things!

Now I know a lot of you might say, “Well, if it annoys you why not just turn the TV off.”  Good point.  But every time I do that someone else just turns it back on.  So it’s a lost cause.  Oh well, hopefully this is just a spring thing….I can only wait and see.