Customer "Service".........

I usually try not to be too hard on people who work in the retail business. I know with the economy the way it is that a lot of people are grateful for any job they can get, and they may not be in what they consider their life's work.

And I usually try NOT to say exactly what is on my mind, even when I'm frustrated. I usually smile politely and make faces behind their backs when they can't help me.

This evening Hubby and I were at a large home improvement store where the dominant color is orange, the product of the weather having been too cold for hubby to play golf today. He sat at home and A) thought of things WE could do to the house; and B) thought of ways to keep me from sitting down and having a nap when I came home from school today.

It is dangerous for me to go to the big orange home improvement store, because I want a new everything. I don't really want to make improvements; what I really want is a new house. But every time I mention a new house, Hubby asks either "Will you write?" or "Will you come visit?" and I give up in frustration.

Tonight's quest was for new faux wood blinds for our bedroom. We have them in the living room, and I love the way they look. So much better than the cheap vinyl ones that have been in our house probably since Jimmy Carter was in office.

Hubby being Hubby, he found some blinds just like what we wanted on the Clearance rack. There was nothing wrong with them; they had been cut to a customer's specifications and therefore were discounted.

But we couldn't figure out what "Clearance" or "Discounted" meant in real dollars. We could find the regular priced blinds, but we had no idea just how much the Clearance ones were.

So we called over a helpful lady in her orange apron. In response to our question, she said, "I don't work in this department, so I don't know. But if they're marked, I can figure it out."

I couldn't help it. The words were out before I could stop them. I didn't mean to be mean or sarcastic, although both come somewhat naturally to me at times. Particularly the sarcasm.

"If they were marked," I replied, "we could figure it out ourselves."