Life is such a sweet insanity.
I love life and people. This is a place where I can write down what's happening, what I'm thinking, what I'm seeing and what I'm feeling. After all, life is just one blog entry after another.Friday, December 24, 2004
Holiday Joy.
There are many times when I crank on my blog and just rant about how screwed up the world is today. Times are changing. People are rude. Folks are stupid. Blah blah blah.
Today isn't one of those days.
Earl and I decided to do some last minute Christmas shopping while we're down here visiting his family outside of Philadelphia. We stopped at the local mall, I believe it's called Neshaminy Mall (which has a Chick-Fil-A, by the way) and made a tour of the big three anchor stores - Boscov's, Strawbridges (we call it Kaufmann's back home) and Sears.
Sears was Sears. Apparently its not where America Shops as much, because it was not busy at all. But the service folks were friendly and we were able to find a DVD player dirt cheap. For some reason I've always equated the typical New York City accent with "rough and tumble". Harsh. I find the Philly accent to be similar, but not quite as harsh. So once I get past the accent used to wish me a happy holidays, I'm good with it.
We then went to Boscov's, which I find delightful simply because it feels like a store from about 15 or 20 years ago, but with modern clothes and such. I'm going to continue to seek out Boscov's on shopping excursions. Again, the shoppers were pleasant and the cashier was friendly as well. Strangers were exchange well wishes, and that does warm the heart for all involved.
Then we went to Strawbridges, which is owned by the same company that owns Kaufmann's back home. A cashier, from another department, tried to alleviate congestion in the line we were standing in by moving us to another register, which had a longer line. I don't know what she was trying to accomplish, but we wished her a Happy Holidays anyways as we moved back to the line we were originally standing in. Under normal circumstances, the people that moved out the line to the other register would have been forced to the back of the line by the others and would have been poo-poohed. "So sad. So stupid." But no, we all decided to let everyone back in their original place in line. Holiday spirit and all. Again, Merry Christmases were shared with everyone involved and smiles were exchanged.
Oh, by the way, Boscov's and Strawbridges both get major geek points for using their old NCR cash registers year after year and just reaccessorizing them with the latest checkout gadget and software instead. Sears, who replaces their registers every six or seven years, loses points for yet again upgrading their equipment but doing nothing to improve the software.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because it warms my heart a bit just to see that in the flurry of all this crass commercialism that has become bigger than the holiday itself, that the decency, cordial behavior and spirit of the holidays continue to live on. Despite the red or black ink on the ledger.
Enjoy the holidays.
Today isn't one of those days.
Earl and I decided to do some last minute Christmas shopping while we're down here visiting his family outside of Philadelphia. We stopped at the local mall, I believe it's called Neshaminy Mall (which has a Chick-Fil-A, by the way) and made a tour of the big three anchor stores - Boscov's, Strawbridges (we call it Kaufmann's back home) and Sears.
Sears was Sears. Apparently its not where America Shops as much, because it was not busy at all. But the service folks were friendly and we were able to find a DVD player dirt cheap. For some reason I've always equated the typical New York City accent with "rough and tumble". Harsh. I find the Philly accent to be similar, but not quite as harsh. So once I get past the accent used to wish me a happy holidays, I'm good with it.
We then went to Boscov's, which I find delightful simply because it feels like a store from about 15 or 20 years ago, but with modern clothes and such. I'm going to continue to seek out Boscov's on shopping excursions. Again, the shoppers were pleasant and the cashier was friendly as well. Strangers were exchange well wishes, and that does warm the heart for all involved.
Then we went to Strawbridges, which is owned by the same company that owns Kaufmann's back home. A cashier, from another department, tried to alleviate congestion in the line we were standing in by moving us to another register, which had a longer line. I don't know what she was trying to accomplish, but we wished her a Happy Holidays anyways as we moved back to the line we were originally standing in. Under normal circumstances, the people that moved out the line to the other register would have been forced to the back of the line by the others and would have been poo-poohed. "So sad. So stupid." But no, we all decided to let everyone back in their original place in line. Holiday spirit and all. Again, Merry Christmases were shared with everyone involved and smiles were exchanged.
Oh, by the way, Boscov's and Strawbridges both get major geek points for using their old NCR cash registers year after year and just reaccessorizing them with the latest checkout gadget and software instead. Sears, who replaces their registers every six or seven years, loses points for yet again upgrading their equipment but doing nothing to improve the software.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because it warms my heart a bit just to see that in the flurry of all this crass commercialism that has become bigger than the holiday itself, that the decency, cordial behavior and spirit of the holidays continue to live on. Despite the red or black ink on the ledger.
Enjoy the holidays.
Archives
July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 March 2007 June 2007
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]