It's a Mall World After All (i.e.Awkward and Confusing)

I am going to serve an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and my wardrobe needs to abide by certain standards. For example, the skirts that I will be wearing need to cover the knee while sitting and standing.  Now this is a tall order for anyone in this teeny-bopper style world that we live in, but it is an  even more difficult feat for someone over 6'0" tall, like myself.

Last week I went to the mall to see what I could find in the way of modest clothing. I went into a large department store and scoured the entire women's and junior's departments for suitable clothing for my mission.  I actually found some really cute things which were all on sale. I was pretty excited; so far this one store had proved more fruitful than a lot of other places I had visited.  Despite having thoroughly searched the entire department, I realized that I hadn't seen a dressing room.  Soon after this realization, one of the store employees came up to me and asked if I needed any help. I asked if she would direct me to the nearest fitting room.  I just wanted her to point, but she kindly led me to a fitting room, and I thanked her for her help.

After trying on my purchases, I walked out of the dressing room and there was a check-out counter right outside. I informed the new clerk that I needed to have a few items put back on the rack, and placed other items on the counter for her to ring me up.  She asked if anyone had helped me, and I said, "No."  She looked at me quizzically and asked again, and indicated in the direction of the first clerk who was about 50 feet away at a different register.  I informed the clerk that the first clerk had shown me to the dressing room, but had not helped me with finding clothing. She then proceeded to ring up my purchases.

Here's where the nightmare begins:

The original clerk came storming over to the check-out counter.  Her entire demeanor was viking-like; stern, scary, and in-your-face.  She asked, "Can I help you?" The words were nice, but her face and rigid posture indicated otherwise. The poor clerk who was checking me out, was obviously scared. She started saying again and again that she had asked me if I had already been helped by someone else.  Seeing that I had, (very unintentionally, I might add) caused some problems, I spoke up and said that the second clerk had indeed asked if I had been helped, and I had responded in the negative.

The first clerk/bully then stood right next her co-worker, stared me down, and then asked who I wanted to have ring up my purchases.  Now, it should be stated that I was not in a right state of mind due to lack of sleep and also a reading of this blog will show that I do not do well in awkward situations, which this most definitely was quickly becoming.  I didn't want to cause more problems for the second clerk, so I told the bully she could ring me up.  If I had known what would happen next, I would not have responded that way.  Because I had chosen to have Bully ring me up now, she had to take me halfway across the store to her register! It was beyond ridiculous. I was feeling so awkward that I didn't even think to ask for a manager, but I really regret not talking to the manager because Bully was completely out of line. Her customer service was horrible.

I do not normally shop in higher-end department stores like that ine, and was thus not aware that I couldn't just have anyone (i,e. the closest and most convenient person) ring me up.  On the other hand, I don't feel like Bully really went out of her way to earn commission off of my purchases (I didn't realize they worked off of commission until this unfortunate situation arose). I did appreciate her help in showing me to a dressing room, but if I hadn't need that aid, would she still have been bullying me and another clerk and claiming my sale as her own?  I think she probably would have.  I really hope that the second (and nice) clerk did not suffer any repercussions because I inadvertently made it look like she was stealing Bully's sale (which I really did all I could to clear up the confusion).  Despite my lack of knowledge regarding how higher end department stores function, I, as the customer (and also just as a human being), should not have been placed in that awkward situation of choosing who to check me out (I had thought I had already done that by going to the closest clerk...).  And then to have to walk 50 feet away to be checked out, when that process had already been started by the nice clerk was ridiculous.

So, I decided that I am not going back to that store anytime soon. (Unless by some miracle I am able to remember Bully's name, and then I am heading straight to a manager--it would definitely be worth the drive down to the mall just for that purpose.)

I was so frustrated that I walked out of the store to my car ready to go home.  Deciding that I really don't get to the mall too often and should see if any of the other department stores had modest clothing at decent prices (desperate times call for desperate measures--finding skirts that are long enough has been very difficult). I drove over to another department store and went in.  Amazing, I only encountered great customer service (which I personally account for the fact that these individuals do not work off of commission and thus don't have to have a piranha-like personality with coworkers and customers). I then wandered the mall in search of more great deals.

Other than the snafu at the first store, this shopping trip was wildly successful, that is until I decided to head home.  I completely forgot where I had parked! I had gotten so turned around in the mall (and did I mention I was lacking a lot of sleep?).  I was all alone, my phone was conveniently located in my car (not that I would have known who to call to help me in that particular situation anyways...), and I was exhausted and not thinking straight.  I remembered where my original parking space was (outside of Bully's store) and knew where my car was parked in location to that.  So, I had to navigate my way back to Bully's store and rush through it in an effort to avoid seeing her (because at that point I still wasn't thinking to talk to a manager.  Plus, I still felt so awkward and horrible about the whole situation.) and also because I had spent probably 20 minutes trying to find the correct mall exit to locate my car (I am a genius, what can I say?).  I then had to walk across the Siberean Desert (Ok, most people would call it a "parking lot" but at that point in my day it was just as large and as hot as the Siberean Desert).  Towards the end of my long, arduous journey, a mall security officer drove up in his vehicle (complete with lights), and asked if I needed help.  Mortified that I appeared to be in need of assistance (at which point I most definitely was not, because I could see my car two rows in front of me), and also because I figured he had probably seen me on security cameras in a tired, discombobulated, idiotic-like stupor trying to figure out how to find my car (Let's just say that in my attempts to find my car there was a lot of backtracking and some murmuring to myself, so there was no way that I could have appeared sane.).  Red-faced (from heat and embarrassment) I informed him that I had lost my car but I could now see it and he kindly went on his way.

So now I am really, really not going to the mall anytime soon (because that's the kind of footage that gets shown at mall security Christmas parties.)

Matchmaker

Yesterday I introduced myself to a new employee. His trainer was standing nearby when I did this,  and  decided to let the new guy know that I was single.  I had issues with this for a couple of reasons:

1. That particular day my appearance was a lot closer to a "Before" picture of a makeover than an "After" shot. Working with mostly women and special people and married people (and sometimes a combination of all three), there are not a lot of eligible men for me to be scoping out. So, admittedly I've gotten to a point where I don't particularly care about my appearance and probably resemble mug shot pictures while at work. To be fair though, I can't really do hair anyways, so even on my good days, things are not looking so good.  New guy was probably scared to death by the attempt to be matched with someone with stringy, fly-away hair and large bags under her eyes.

2. It's irritating for someone to assume that you are flirting with them, when  in reality you were just being nice and simply asking someone what their name is.  Perhaps this actually is flirting--it definitely would explain why none of the guys in my singles ward deign to talk to me.

3.  I cannot emphasize this one enough: Being single is not the only characteristic to take into account when attempting to set people up! I don't understand why so many people fail to  understand this.

4. I have working relationships with most, if not all, of my coworkers.  Thus, I do not feel like it was my coworker's place to be matchmaking.

5.  This matchmaking attempt was out of the blue and unexpected, probably because of all the reasons listed above.  I was not prepared to be singled out in this manner and so my eloquent response was "yep" whilst turning a beautiful hue of carmine, and then avoided eye contact with both matchmaker and my fellow victim of matchmaking for the rest of the day.

Unsurprisingly, this matchmaking attempt was unsuccessful.  Hopefully this will prevent my coworker from trying to play cupid again.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Do you want to know what the joke this year was?

The Weather.  

It was a downpour.  

Which normally I love...but guess who was the fool (as a result of the joke)..

Yep. Me. I'm the fool. I did a 5K...in a downpour.

It was cold, but really fun!

Please note the use of the verb "did" instead of "ran." I ran a little bit...walked more...gasped for air the majority of the time...prayed to make it up hills and to finish...got soaked to the bone...discovered I have arthritic knees---and yet did it all in a downpour, so I feel all hardcore (even though I mostly walked).

Birthday Girl

Today my coworkers surprised me with a lively rendition of "Happy Birthday" and yummy cupcakes. (It was even more of a surprise because its not actually my birthday--I'm taking the day off of work from my birthday, so we celebrated early).  I was even more surprised by how young everyone thought I was. Most people guessed 22, which I was pleased with.  (Not that I feel like being 24 is old, but I feel like sometimes people think I am older because I am tall. Not that height corresponds with age as much as it does during childhood, but I think some people still think this way; and it was nice to have people guess that I was younger than my age).

While I was being tortured, er...sung to, my boss came out of his office.  After the song was finished, he asked if I was now old enough to vote. It was unexpected from him, which made it even funnier.

Usually I hate celebrating my birthday when its not actually my birthday---but today was really fun and its been a great day!

Physical...Physical...I want to get a Physical Examination

It is apparently a tall order to get a physical examination from a qualified medical professional. I've needed to get a physical examination for about a month now...and its been quite the journey.  I don't have a doctor in  Salt Lake; I'm young and healthy and haven't needed to see one.  Upon learning that I needed to have a physical, I sought out a list of healthcare providers that accepted my insurance. I became highly discouraged after calling one doctor's office and finding out that while they are accepting new patients, as listed on their website, they were only accepting new patients who were referred by other patients.  This discouraged me on my hunt for a doctor, and I gave up. After several weeks had passed and I being reminded of why I needed a physical, I resumed my search.

I decided that the weird "only accepting referred patients" rule was probably in an effort to combat drug abuse and patients who are doctor shopping in order to get multiple prescriptions.  So, to prove to the world that I am not a drug abuser, I decided to get a referral. I asked a few people for the names of their doctors.  Even though I had been referred (to a different doctor's office this time), I was informed that to become a patient I had to fill out a health history form, submit it, and then the earliest appointment time for a new patient would be in eight weeks. Eight weeks!  Thank goodness I don't have the flu, or the plague, or my ever recurring sinus infections; or I'd be really out of luck and miserable. I thought that was ridiculous. I am very grateful that I didn't need to see a doctor for a pressing, but non-emergency issue. So much for preventative medicine! I especially loved that I couldn't set up the appointment then and there, but would have to wait to fill out the form--possibly extending my first visit even later.

I was growing beyond frustrated with every attempt to see a doctor. I finally decided that  eight weeks was too long to wait.  Then I did what I should have done in the first place: I called and set up an appointment with the  doctor that I have gone to all throughout my childhood.  He's amazing AND he's not making me wait two months to see him, so even though I no longer live in the same area where he practices, its worth the drive!

This has been such a frustrating experience to even get in to see a doctor, that I can't help but be (more) scared by the shift towards socialized medicine. Waiting times are already absurd (2 months!!!), but those waiting times would jump dramatically if the system were to be bogged down by every hypochondriac or freeloader wanting every wart or scratch or bruise checked on the government's dime.

Happy Valentine's/ St. Patrick's Day!

This was originally supposed to be a Valentine's Day post, but time has been flying past and blogging has not been a priority. Recently I've been crafting more and trying to actually finish all of these projects so that I can blog/ brag about them has proven harder than I anticipated. I am great at starting projects, but about halfway through I lose all motivation. Making holiday-related crafts has helped, because it gives me a nice deadline to finish projects by (the St. Patrick's day craft shown below was finished a little about 11:30 pm last night, otherwise it would have been at least another year before I thought about completing it).

Look what I made:

Valentine's Day Banner:

Valentine's Day Wreath:

Idea found here.

I love argyle!  And I ended up liking this wreath so much I decided to make a shamrock one for St. Patrick's Day:

The wreaths are a little misshapen because I used some foam tubing instead of a wreath form  and it didn't work as well as I had hoped. I got the idea from Pinterest; and it worked well enough, plus was certainly a lot cheaper than a wreath form.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day (and I hope your Valentine's Day was great too!)

Zoo Lights!

Last night I went to Zoo Lights at the Hogle Zoo. It was awesome.  A great Groupon deal was the impetus for this trip to the zoo and it turned out to be a lot of fun.  A lot of the exhibits were closed, but the lights were beautiful, and plentiful and many of them had the illusion of motion. 

This alligator was really cool.  The lights created the illusion that he was snapping. I nicknamed him "Snappy."

Cool rhino.  I really liked the fog in this picture.

Awesome elephant shaped lights. I want some of these for my place!

The big cats were very active!  It was fun to see them out and about and to hear them growling.  

'Hobbes' the Tiger (and yes I named him too.)

Snow Leopard

My roommate Jessica with the snow leopard (it just looks like a soft blanket, unfortunately.  My camera and the photographer **ahem** weren't quite up to par for the task of an action shot.)

Making friends with the gorilla.

Being even friendlier with the gorilla

The Elephant came out for a late-night snack.

The zoo train wasn't running, but this one was cute so I got a picture with me 'in' the caboose.

 I had never been to the zoo's new Rocky Shores exhibit.  It was awesome. I am looking forward to going to the zoo during normal hours and hopefully seeing more animals in the exhibit.

I also fell in love with the soft cuddly bears. They were so cute.

Unfortunately it turns out that there was no ice carving as had been advertised. Despite that disappointment, the Zoo Lights more than made up for that. It was really fun; I already want to go again!