What its like in one of the unhealthiest counties in one of the unhealthiest states

[limewave]

Last night I went to Walgreens to buy a greeting card and some scotch tape. I set my items down at the registrar . . .

Cashier: Rolls eyes at me, waves arms about and starts sighing impatiently.
Me: *confused* "What?"
Cashier: In a disgusting, impatient tone "Well (sigh), What do you want?!?
Cigarettes, tobacco, lottery ticket, liquor?"
Me: "Uhm. I just want this card and this tape."

[indysteel]

Wow; I'm not sure what is most upsetting: The cashier's rudeness to you or her assumption that you were there to satisfy some vice. Thank goodness that you can now pay at the pump. I can't stand going into a gas station while the five people in front of me buy some combination of cigarettes, lottery tickets, giant fountain drinks and junk food. It just bums me out.

While in Missouri on our Katy Trail tour, I went into convenience store/gas station to see if they had any fresh fruit. You never know, right? The cashier said "no, but we have pizza." How exactly did she make the leap from fresh fruit to pizza?

[Pax]

Last night I went to Walgreens to buy a greeting card and some scotch tape. I set my items down at the registrar . . .

Cashier: Rolls eyes at me, waves arms about and starts sighing impatiently.
Me: *confused* "What?"
Cashier: In a disgusting, impatient tone "Well (sigh), What do you want?!?
Cigarettes, tobacco, lottery ticket, liquor?"
Me: "Uhm. I just want this card and this tape."
Check out kid rolled his eyes at me yesterday when I gave him a coupon... I walked over to the customer service counter mid-transaction and got the manager. Kid got reamed and the manager finished the transaction herself.

I've decided I'm no longer going to accept poor customer service.

[beccaB]

I have a whole bunch of places I won't shop at because of poor service, but I haven't taken the correct measures and notified management. Like they'd care anyway. Limewave, I Live in Jackson County. If you think it's bad on your side of the state you should check it out here if you really want to be disgusted!

[Trek420]

I've decided I'm no longer going to accept poor customer service.

Maybe we can start with management. ;) One day in the customer service call center enviornment:

email from a manager: will everyone who can't get email please reply to this email?

[grey]

Maybe we can start with management. ;) One day in the customer service call center enviornment:

email from a manager: will everyone who can't get email please reply to this email?

oh my gosh, that seriously cracked me up!

[jessmarimba]

Maybe we can start with management. ;) One day in the customer service call center enviornment:

email from a manager: will everyone who can't get email please reply to this email?

I feel a whole lot better now about our IT guy emailing us to tell us that the office internet was down.

[Sardine]

LOL at both. We're supposed to log all requests for IT assistance on a specific webpage or email the department on a dedicated email address, which is a bit of a challenge when your system crashes and you can't access the internet or email and you need them to fix it.

[Trek420]

oh my gosh, that seriously cracked me up!

And then it's the customers. I know you're busy, I'm busy too, I know it took an act of G*d to reach us (next time check out http://gethuman.com/) I know you're tired of the robot, trust me the internal ones I use are worse for me but ... calling from the bathroom? You think we don't know? You can ask me to wait, really. Otherwise Ewww, just eww.

And just another note sir, you dialed 800 TRE-K420 to reach me not 900. If you need that kind of excellent customer service just tell your wife and kids (who I hear in the background) that you're taking the car to Aurora or International blvd for a a while. Otherwise, Ewww, just ewww.

[Owlie]

I feel a whole lot better now about our IT guy emailing us to tell us that the office internet was down.

My undergrad institution e-mailed us to tell us that the campus internet was having problems...when no one could actually get onto the internet.

[KnottedYet]

I spent some time in the midwest. Quite a shock after growing up in the west.

The first time I went into a grocery store, and saw carts laden with processed food and with multiple six-packs of pop hanging off the edges of the carts, I thought there must be some event going on.

No, that's just the way those people ate.

I swear, they didn't drink water.

And the booze and cigarette consumption, whew. Reading Limewave's post was a total flashback to that environment. I barely noted the attitude of the clerk, it was all about the cultural assumptions in that unhealthy world as I read.

It would be a good topic for an anthropology thesis.

[OakLeaf]

I know you're busy, I'm busy too, I know it took an act of G*d to reach us (next time check out http://gethuman.com/) I know you're tired of the robot, trust me the internal ones I use are worse for me but ... calling from the bathroom? You think we don't know? You can ask me to wait, really. Otherwise Ewww, just eww.


Hahahahaha ...

From the customer's point of view:

I didn't have to pee when I dialed the call. Forty-five minutes ago. Now I have to pee. And there is no way on G*d's green earth that I am going to hang up, go pee, then dial again.

Sorry you had to listen. :p I hope you're aware that nine times out of ten, I'm done peeing and on hold for another 10-15 minutes before anyone picks up.

[channlluv]

...
No, that's just the way those people ate.

I swear, they didn't drink water.

And the booze and cigarette consumption, whew. ...

Having spent my high school years in Alabama where ketchup was considered a vegetable in the school lunches -- I'm not even making that up -- I can tell you that the thinking there is that soda is mostly water, so it counts as water, and if it's sweetened with Splenda instead of sugar, it's considered the healthy choice.

Booze: ditto -- mostly water.

Cigarettes: from tobacco leaves...it's a vegetable, too. Besides, they look so darn cool.

Roxy

[channlluv]

Hahahahaha ...

From the customer's point of view:

I didn't have to pee when I dialed the call. Forty-five minutes ago. Now I have to pee. And there is no way on G*d's green earth that I am going to hang up, go pee, then dial again.


Okay, but what about the people who call from a public restroom? I mean really, in the women's locker room at the Y where it's plainly posted, "No Cell Phones"?

And the restroom at the park where I go before my bike rides...I feel embarrassed doing what I have to do in there while the woman next to me is on the phone. Sheesh.

[KnottedYet]

When I realize the woman in the stall next to me is on the phone, I have the most incredible urge to make extremely loud whoopee cushion noises... ;)

[Trek420]

When I realize the woman in the stall next to me is on the phone, I have the most incredible urge to make extremely loud whoopee cushion noises... ;)

Go ahead! :p

[skhill]

No, that's just the way those people ate.

I swear, they didn't drink water.



So their carts had liquid candy-- that doesn't mean they don't drink water too. Water comes out of a tap, not a supermarket...

I live in the city Men's Health magazine ranked as the most sedentary in the US. Sometimes it seems like the official local breakfast is a Mountain Dew or Ale8-1 and sausage biscuit, followed by a cigarette. So I do know what you mean.

[Kathi]

Even here in one of the healthiest states in the country, where hydration with water is extremely important, especially in the winter at high elevations, I've seen 5-8 year olds drinking oversized servings of pop (soda), and drinking no water. Then the parents get concerned because the kids don't feel well. Duh, all that sugar filling the kids up, no real food and dehydration due to lack of water, what do they expect?

Generally these people are tourists but I suspect they are locals too.

When skier friends come to visit they will pay $2-$3 for bottled water at the ski areas or buy cases of it at the grocery store. All the ski areas provide "free" water that comes directly from the mt peaks, most likely purer than any bottled water and the same can be said for tap water.

[Eden]

....... I mean really, in the women's locker room at the Y where it's plainly posted, "No Cell Phones"?

I'm betting that is because most phones now include a *camera*..... more than because it's just rude to be yakking away in that environment....

[shootingstar]

Having spent my high school years in Alabama where ketchup was considered a vegetable in the school lunches -- I'm not even making that up -- I can tell you that the thinking there is that soda is mostly water, so it counts as water, and if it's sweetened with Splenda instead of sugar, it's considered the healthy choice.

Booze: ditto -- mostly water.

Cigarettes: from tobacco leaves...it's a vegetable, too. Besides, they look so darn cool.

Jeez. Nutritonal food illiteracy is amazing.

I met a 70 yr. old woman 15 yrs. ago who rarely ate any veggies her whole life, even though she had a heart problem. She was raised in a rural area on Cape Breton Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia. I remember her friend, my partner's mother who was around 82 at that time: she was politely disgusted with her younger friend's diet but knew it was pointless to convince her to eat her veggies.

[Trek420]

I'm betting that is because most phones now include a *camera*..... more than because it's just rude to be yakking away in that environment....

Probably, same as the signs in the gym.

But it's not just the sounds and the flushing but the thought about the sanitation and safety. I assume you wash your hands after but do you wash your iPhone? Probably not :o :rolleyes:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/9/prweb8775660.htm

[OakLeaf]

Well according to that article, the phone is already dirtier than anything in the bathroom, so maybe the phone is actually cleaner afterward. :p

It would be a neater trick than I can do, to wipe with the hand that's holding the phone, anyway. :cool: I've already lost one phone down a portajohn (no, NOT while I was talking on it or trying to wipe :rolleyes: ).

[Trek420]

Jeez. Nutritonal food illiteracy is amazing.

Yep, it sure is :( Personally I'm not sure if it's illiteracy (never learned to read) or dementia (once upon a time we all knew what to eat. We just forgot under the deluge of fast food ads) :o

But back to customers: You know those systems where you're resetting a password it gives you a couple choices of security questions: What was your high school mascot, who was your childhood heroine, if you were stranded on an island what book would you need and .... what is your favorite restaurant?

If I had $20 for everyone whose answer to that last one is MacDonalds I would be retired on an island right now. "Wrong! MacD's is NOT a restaurant, it's barely food. I'm locking you out of your account, that's just plain wrong."

[KnottedYet]

I loooooooove McDonald's fries and hashbrowns. You gonna lock me out of the house?

[Trek420]

No way! :D

[Velocivixen]

I've lived in Oregon (Willamette Valley) my whole life and now live near Portland. If you've ever watched the show Portlandia (IFC), there's a skit where these very down to earth patrons are in a restaurant and they are asking about the chicken on the menu. They're asking where the chicken was raised, how old it was, it's environment....finally the waitress excuses herself and returns with the chicken's lifetime dossier! The couple still can't decide, so they leave the restaurant and take a trip to the farm where the chicken(local of course, and hormone/antibiotic free of course - organic) was raised (like a commune). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that many here are into local sustainability, growing your own, community gardens, farmer's markets, vegan/vegetarian options, etc. Of course not everyone eats like that, but it's a stereotype that I sort of like. ;)

[Trek420]

Before the Portlandia chicken (I love that episode), before Rocky the Range chicken, Petaluma was the egg capital of the world. I grew up on a farm there:

http://www.archive.org/details/Petaluma1932

[zoom-zoom]

When I realize the woman in the stall next to me is on the phone, I have the most incredible urge to make extremely loud whoopee cushion noises... ;)

This. And there have been several times when I've heard a person in the next stall, thought they were talking to me, and answered. I know that *I* shouldn't have been the one embarrassed in this situation, but I was. :o

[Biciclista]

This. And there have been several times when I've heard a person in the next stall, thought they were talking to me, and answered. I know that *I* shouldn't have been the one embarrassed in this situation, but I was. :o

me too. and food illiteracy? I see it in our own family. The great grandparents know how to eat. The grandparents were a little lazy... so the parents didn't learn. The kids? I can't stand to have these children to our house because they won't eat fruit, vegetables, they didn't even like my mac and cheese because it didn't come out of a box... I could go ON and ON and On. and now THESE kids are reaching puberty...

[Eden]

I was reading a study somewhere that in contrast to common wisdom, it's probably best to expose your baby to lots of flavors (and ones that aren't bland) early..... they found babies who get exposed to bitter within a certain time in end up not disliking bitter foods as adults - and a lot of those bitter foods are the ones that have some of the best nutrients.

and hey - I found it - http://www.greenpeoplenews.com/en/2011/07/13/can-we-be-trained-to-like-healthy-foods/

[zoom-zoom]

I only wish I were as good about eating fruits and veggies as my 10 year old. He will polish-off a massive bag of baby carrots in a matter of just a couple of days. And I have to fight him for berries. It's getting him to eat protein that is a trick. When he turned 1 his birthday dinner included a lot of broccoli. We couldn't get him to eat his cake (though now he LOVES sweets--he gets that sweet-tooth from my hubby's side of the family).

My sister's boys are MUCH pickier. Though one is autistic and not nearly as picky as a lot of kids with that condition. She struggles to get them both to eat veggies of any sort. Until recently she didn't eat very healthily, though, either. The family joke is that her favorite meal is Mountain Dew and Doritos.

[Biciclista]

oh i know some modern kids that won't eat protein either. I don't get it. All I objected to were canned vegetables...

[roguedog]

POTD (post of the day, for me anyway. just found this thread)

oooh, i like your thinkin'. is that scary?


When I realize the woman in the stall next to me is on the phone, I have the most incredible urge to make extremely loud whoopee cushion noises... ;)

[Brandi]

Well according to that article, the phone is already dirtier than anything in the bathroom, so maybe the phone is actually cleaner afterward. :p

It would be a neater trick than I can do, to wipe with the hand that's holding the phone, anyway. :cool: I've already lost one phone down a portajohn (no, NOT while I was talking on it or trying to wipe :rolleyes: ).
Now I have to clean my phone!
Thanks!

[Susan Otcenas]

I have a whole bunch of places I won't shop at because of poor service, but I haven't taken the correct measures and notified management. Like they'd care anyway.

Shop at independent or smaller establishments where management includes the owners. If you had a problem with a customer service person at <insert big box sporting goods store here>, maybe the management wouldn't care. But if you have a poor experience at your local bike store (or at TE for that matter :D ) you can be darn sure that the management (likely the owner, or someone with the owner's ear) is going to care!

[Blueberry]

Shop at independent or smaller establishments where management includes the owners. If you had a problem with a customer service person at <insert big box sporting goods store here>, maybe the management wouldn't care. But if you have a poor experience at your local bike store (or at TE for that matter :D ) you can be darn sure that the management (likely the owner, or someone with the owner's ear) is going to care!

I can't imagine that happening at TE! Service has always been top notch (I just wish my bike/sport clothing/fun stuff budget were larger so I could shop more:))

[GLC1968]

I can't imagine that happening at TE! Service has always been top notch (I just wish my bike/sport clothing/fun stuff budget were larger so I could shop more:))

Ain't that the truth??