Can We Talk?

More like 'Can I Unload On You All?  That rant I had brewing the other day?  Turns out naked lady surprise lilies only work for so long, and better out than in I always say.  Or is that Hagrid.   And since all my knitting is stealth and off blog limits, what else do I have to blog about anyway?

First off.  Had to go to Walmart today.  Had to.  See, I'm the art teacher for this little 65 kid summer camp this week which means 3 crafts a day for 5 days for 65 kids -- some of which can overlap, but still.  Supplies, lesson plan, the whole shebang.  Whew.

So the crafts I wanted to do today and tomorrow involve panty hose.  And since I, myself, have a drawer-full of unused pantyhose -- wear them only to weddings -- I figured everyone did and would like to donate them.   I guess the women who attend this church either wear pantyhose still -- who does that?  Or they clean their drawers out more often than I do -- a more likely possibility.  Short story long, only like 7 pairs of hose come in after two days -- I need 120 or so panty legs.  And I needed -- today -- some flower seeds.  Guess what ... it's August.  The only flower seeds I'm getting are those I pick off of my own flowers. 

Four garden stores, and "Those are out of season, ma'am" I got like four times, two with eye-rolls.  So, I say to my self, where can I get cheap panty hose and flower seeds in one stop, close by?  The dreaded answer -- Walmart.  Normally, I avoid Walmart like the plague -- why?  Oh, I don't know, just on some vaguely formed, left-leaning principle in part.  And because they're skeezy I guess.  Whatever.

But I was right -- they had both.  Very cheap panty hose and, of course, out-of-season, clearance priced flower seeds.  Yeah, I clean my drawers out with the same comparative frequency that Walmart updates their merchandise apparently -- I'm so proud.  Ok, "Yay", you say -- "good on you, Annie.  Last minute planning pays off!  You're living right!" 

Except that while I was going from the hose to the seeds, I saw an elderly lady, cane hooked on her cart, contemplating the aisle of -- get this -- personal fans.  Personal fans of every color, make and model.  Personal fans with necklaces attached, personal fans with stands, personal fans with an extra personal fan free alongside, and my personal favorite -- personal fans with squirt bottles attached, red, white, and blue, of course.  This little lady was wondering whether to get the 89 cent fan without batteries or the 99 cent fan with batteries included.  Because she has batteries at home and how good really can 10 cent batteries be -- but hey, 10 cent batteries, ... you don't come across those every day... and it is really hot outside.  101 today, supposed to be.  Such a conundrum.  (Ok, she didn't say "conundrum", that's my word.  And I like to use it when I get the chance.  Which isn't that often really.)

What, you don't have the same aversion I have to personal fans?  You don't think they're useless crap?  Come on, you haven't had like 12 of them cycle through your household as gifts or parts of grab bags or prizes at crap fairs?   And, really, do you ever have a personal fan with you when you need it?  My kind of personal fan?  The one that's the magazine or the program I have in my hand.  Not that bit of plastic and batteries -- sheesh, Americans.  Sheesh, Walmart.  No fewer than 7 kinds of them, confusing little elderly ladies.  For shame. 

That's my problem in a nutshell with Walmart actually.  They have 10 kinds of each kind of crap and it's priced really low.  So that, somehow, we don't pay the real price of the merchandise -- yet.  Do you know that one of the things America exports the most of is last season's clothes?  That our perfectly good used clothes go to the third world in bales by the ton?  Shipped out from ports all over the East and West Coast?  And that we give away that export?  Well, the collectors probably sell it and make a little money, and if I have time I get a tax receipt, but, really... And each of those little fans with it's plastic and it's battery has a half life of like 10, 000 years in a landfill (where all twelve of the ones we've owned certainly are)!  The real price for Walmart merchandise will be paid by our grandchildren.  Of that, I'm sure.  And yeah, I'm picking on Walmart because I was in the Kirkwood store today, and as Amanda will surely comment, it is the ickiest store on the planet -- it feels like things are going to fall on your head, and there are piles of things all over the place -- can't even move the cart.  Maybe there are nice Walmarts somewhere, but I'll buy my crap at Target any time, price be damned.  At least Target gives 4 cents on the dollar to my kid's school.

Second, and more painful, is the current Boy Scout Camp fiasco in my household.  Somehow I didn't know/wasn't told/didn't think to ask about the fact that the other 4 boys attending are going with their dads.  Son figured it out today, and make no mistake, had Dad known ahead of time that this was the deal, he'd be going.  He doesn't miss stuff with the kids when given sufficient notice.  He just doesn't. But he's out of the country this week and his attending this camp is not gonna happen, and I can't go due to the above camp.   

My sweet little boy is heartbroken -- he was so looking forward to this, his first big overnight camp,  and no reading over of the manual where it states nowhere that dads are supposed to go and in fact says that only two adults are supposed to go with 5 campers not four adults... no discussing it will change his mind that he won't fit in or won't feel comfortable.  Hoping to change this point of view after I get to talk to one of the other moms involved.  I don't hold out much hope.  Dear Son was born smack in the middle of Taurus during the year of the Bull -- two totally divergent horoscope traditions agree on this kid (as they do on me, by the way -- smack in the middle of Leo born in the year of the Tiger.)  Anyway, as with the power outages, when hubby was in the Grand Canyon for 3 of the 4 days, I'll weather this storm with my kids.  My perk this year was London -- and quite a perk it was.  Now I've got to get on earning my next year's perk...which I hope will be this with my Mom.

**Edited to add -- Thanks for all the support for the boy.  He slept on it and wanted to go.  I left him at camp this afternoon happily catching spiders with his buddies.  All's well that ends well.

Comments

[Scout]

Dang lady. You have a LOT on your plate!

[Susan]

I'm not a Walmart fan, either, it's also Target for me. I just had to comment to say that I've never owned a personal fan, so it appears that there are people who are destined to have too many and people who don't have any at all.

Poor Son -- I hope that he goes and has a good time anyway! Maybe if he brought a camera (disposable, probably) and took photos of camp to show his dad that might be a way of sharing the event and of easing some of his anxiety about not having his dad with him.

[Carole]

I know what you mean about hating Walmart. I do it on principal, I suppose. As for the Scout thing, that sounds fairly typical of the way things wind up. Too many leaders, not enough kids.

[Jennifer]

I have no advice other than *breathe*. I have to remind myself of this all the time.

[Lucia]

Another problem with Walmart (curtsy to our friend Fred): they squeeze their suppliers' prices, with the result that the suppliers in turn have to supply inferior merchandise to stay in business. So you can buy 3 pairs of underwear at Walmart for $5 and have them wear out in a year or less, or you can buy 3 decent pairs (if you can find them) for $15 and wear them for 5 years. And guess who gets shafted by this "deal"? Right: the person who can only afford the $5 at a time, and so ends up paying $25 instead of $15 for 5 years' worth of underwear.

So sorry about the camp. Grrrr.

[CindyCindy]

I'm sorry about Boy Scout camp. That sucks for both your boy and you and your husband. And,,,,I completely agree with you on the Walmart experience. I feel the same way about Swiffers, and the bathroom cleaning crap that you can just throw away when you're finished. Oops, sorry, I got started and that's always a bad thing when talking about the environment and the economy. Hope your camp experience is wonderful.

[Jenn]

I usually feel the need to take a shower after I've been to Walmart. It reminds me of when I worked at a department store and we'd open these big boxes of clothes and everything would be covered in some chemical stuff that was supposed to keep the bugs off of it during transit. I imagine everything at Walmart, having arrived in big containers on ships as well, is covered in it too. Ooog. But what bothers me about them lately is that they've gotten rid of the baskets. You have to push a huge cart around or carry everything in your hands. Such a desperate ploy to get us to buy more stuff, or forget that something is in the cart because you can't see it... Dumb.

[Pat K]

Sigh. Life can be so frustrating at times. Ranting is certainly allowed. Hope you can resolve the camp issues. Hang in there!

[margene]

Why do we, American's that is, think we need all the junk that Walmart and others sell. You had a good reason for going but I can't really ever thing that I need so much junky stuff in my life). The squirt bottle I use for ironing works just as well to keep me cool if I want to lug it around. Go rant, btw.

[Kelly]

You do have a lot going on! I hope things start going a little easier for you soon.

[cecily]

Ugh...Walmart. I'm conflicted about it...

Where is the Sisterhood of Traveling Stash box now? Whomever has it hasn't been blogging about it, and I'm jeaaaalous! :)

[Michelle]

take a moment to Breathe!!
Glad to hear it worked out with your Son!

NO personally fans here, and we only play the games we like the prizes, why give them our money......lol

Hate the target here sorry ;o(
I've also seen some of the very same items at Flienes/Macys dept stores as Walmart carries, same brands too. Of course I'm no fool will gladly pay Walmarts prices of my favorite dept stores anywday. Yes they do carry alot of crap. I have certian things I'll buy at Walmart only and the rest at other stores but never step foot into target, they also very pricey and I'd rather pay those prices at my Dept stores. DH like to buy things with a warantee all his cloths have on even his socks!!??
Stay cool!

[Cathy]

There's just something about WalMart that makes people grouchy, and I haven't quite figured out what it is - I think it's a combination of things - the aisles are too narrow, it's too loud and too bright, and too crowded and too much junk maybe. But you go in with a good mood and come out with a scowl. Not the best place to set up a Cub Scout Popcorn sale, let me tell you.

[Amanda]

I enjoy your rants sooooooo much!!! Thanks for sharing. I always feel better when you're finished.