when we were in DC the other week i ran into a make-up problem. as i was lining my lips the crayon fell out of the pencil, what was left of it anyway. it was such a tiny bit but i began searching for it to shove it back in. i must tell you that this wasn’t the first time i’ve put this back in, so maybe i should have remedied this earlier. but anyway i never found it so i suddenly found myself without lip liner. i went ahead with just chapstick for the rest of the weekend. you see i don’t wear lipstick. for me it’s only for fancy events, ones where i wear perfume and tons of hairspray and even sometimes earrings. so anyway, i’m a clinique girl and while i’ve bought many things at cvs there are certain things i love about clinique. my lip liner is one of them. not long after we got back into town i received a flyer from clinique and macy*s in the mail. it’s bonus time! and what perfect timing. i usually restock on whatever i may need during these times because that crap never goes on sale and if i’m going to pay a stupid price for makeup i’m gonna’ get some free stuff out of it. so when i was out shopping the other night i got excited about replenishing my makeup and went into macy*s to cash in on the bonus. when i was checking out the counter girl asked me if i wanted the purple bag or the pink. i didn’t really care because i have so many bags that i wasn’t going to use it anyway. it would most likely end up as a crayon/pencil bag for my niece. after she handed me my receipt she told me i could come back on wednesday. what?? it’s friday! and i need lip liner… now. as it turns out it wasn’t actually bonus time yet, but they had started giving them away. what they do is send you a flyer to reel you in ans sell you make-up and then you have to come back on the first day of the promotion to get your free gift and purchases. this is absurd. with my heavy retail background, i totally get that they want to drive traffic on a wednesday, a typically slow business day. i get that, i appreciate that. what i don’t get is why they’re holding my makeup hostage. she gave me a claim ticket to bring back with me. why can’t i have my make-up and just come back with my ticket on wednesday? this makes so much more sense! because then people can take their purchase home, and many will return for their free gift. but you’ll also see a breakage on the redemptions, which makes them just like a regular sale and therefore only saves clinique money by having to put out less free bags. or even better yet, maybe they should just not address the free gifts until the day they can actually give them out! because then people would just come back on the days of hte free offer anyway. i don’t really get who decided this was the way to do it. i’m frustrated about this whole thing. and i still can’t get my lip liner until tomorrow. grr clinique.
i went through the wendy’s drive thru the other night because i was already out, and dreading having to make myself dinner when i got home. so as i’m sitting there, waiting for them to take my money and give me my dinner, i was looking around inside through the window. i saw a sign that looked like a stop sign, you know, a red octagon with white border. it said “Hand Washing Station STOP and wash your hands”. umm, isn’t that just a sink? and are the little signs posted everywhere about washing your hands not enough? then the girl finally finished the process and when she handed me the last thing i said “thank you” only to receive a “umm.hmm.” and a slam of the window. wtf? what is up with fast food workers? i know it’s not the most glamorous job, but why are they allowed to get away with such attitudes? if i ever gave a client attitude like i get at fast food places i would be fired in an instant. i realize that 9-5 corporate jobs are not entirely comparable to jobs in the fast food industry, but no one is forcing them to work there. there are so many places to get a job. why not take one where you don’t have to interact with people? and i know it’s not everyone, i’ve run into some friendly and efficient workers in fast food or even (what i would consider) less ideal jobs. but i have to say the majority of them i’ve dealt with are not happy campers. it’s like they’re made at me for ordering fries.
even though i’ve been in the retail industry as long as i care to remember, i’m confused by it’s acceptance of such ridiculous things and i’m disappointed that it does not demand more. if i lived in the midwest i would apply to macy*s as a favor to help them out. because i don’t know if i can take being teased into thinking sales are actually happening again.
~ today i learned… the term “balls to the wall” did not stem from some guys talking about how they had big ones and were awesome. it’s actually began from fighter planes. the “balls” are knobs atop the plane’s throttle control. pushing the throttle all the way forward, to the wall of the cockpit, is to apply full throttle. hence “balls to the wall” ~
