Notes from the Fray

We've been changing our shopping habits around here over the past few months, trying to make a more concerted effort to buy organic and/or local food when we can, and to shop more at the co-op and farmers' market. We enjoy it greatly, especially on the weeks when we can walk to the co-op and the market on Sunday morning. However, we're nowhere near ready to sever our ties to the big grocery stores entirely, and end up there annoyingly often. Thus, I found myself at our non-neighborhood Giant today (it's the closest Giant to us but not the closest store - that non-honor goes to a Safeway that has prettied itself up but still has piss-poor customer service).

What the hell was I thinking? I was there at 2:00 pm on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. So was everyone else on the planet. It could have been far worse, as we had gone to the co-op and farmers' market in the morning (and Cait ended up at the Safeway later in the day to pick up a prescription because they're the only ones with the generic -- so this shop local thing isn't really working for us in terms of curtailing our fossil fuel use!) meaning that I had a relatively short shopping list. I also ran into another school librarian and we chatted while we stood in line forever.

The trip almost went ENTIRELY down the tubes when it was time to pay. I'd gone to this store primarily because the last time I'd gone I'd gotten a fistful of register coupons for TWO DOLLARS OFF any health and beauty item. And you know what that means! Cheaper HPTs! Cheaper prenatals! Cheaper flaxseed oil capsules! And cheaper tampons! (Cover all the bases, you know.) When I handed the coupons to the cashier, she said, "I think you'll only be able to use one of these at a time." TILT! Whoop! Whoop! My internal fury system was tripped - I'd checked the coupons more than once before heading to the store and nowhere on them did it say that they could not be combined or were limited to one per transaction! She tried to scan in two, and the register rejected the second.

I'm very proud of myself - I did not lose it at that point, but paid for my groceries, collected my receipt (and another damn stack of $2 coupons) and marched over to customer service. I explained, forcefully but civilly, that the only reason I had come to the store was to use these coupons and I wanted $10 back. And?

The senior customer service person told the guy at the desk, "Give her the money."

Hallelujah! I don't usually win these kind of situations.