Does complaining do any good? Yes!! Let me tell you. Ever since Wal-Mart has gone to those thingies that the customer runs his credit card through, punches some keys and signs the screen, I have been complaining. To begin with, I am too old to want to change. 2nd I can't reach the screen without standing up, which is very difficult for me and requires someone steadying me. I have complained about this thingie in every Wal-Mart that I have shopped in.
Guess what!!! Wal-Mart has installed a swing out shelf at desk height on the customer's side. Now it is easy for me to sign the paper they give me. The clerk swipes the card, hands me the paper, I sign it, she takes it back and gives me the receipt and my card and we are good to go.
Did complaining do any good? I like to think it did and I like to think that it was my complaints that resulted in one more innovation to help the handicapped.
Wow, that sounds great! And I'll bet your complaining about it did help get it made easier for you and others! I know that designers always say that they consider the problems faced by the handicapped, but I am very sure they simply don't understand those problems. I am equally sure that they don't ask very often. When they don't ask, someone has to tell them!
Good job, Wilma!
Wilma, that's just great. Good for you. I have a personal interest in that and stores having scooters, etc. I'll talk about that later.... has to do with polio.
This is not exactly on topic but talk about thingies and something at least initially horrific at Walmart is the self checkout. It seems that so many people are reluctant to use them, once you take the plunge and get past the "omigosh what do I do stage," it is much faster to get out and gets easier each time.
I dont know, though, how they counter theft. We started to walk away with a $19 item after checking ourselves out. Got almost to the door when I realized I had something I did not scan. The person at the door smiled and said "Thanks for shopping at Walmart" as we walked by. I Went back and ran through the self checkout again. No one was around monitoring the process and I think I would have successfully walked out with it if I had not been honest.
Also, if one goes through an attended checkout at Walmart and she gives you your check back--it is a bit disconcerting at first. For those who have not had this happen, they electronically ding your checking account while you stand there and then hand the check back. At end of month, if you are still getting checks back, the bank gives you an electronic facsimile of that check. Could be Walmart does this only if one is out of their trade area.
If our order is small, we will go through self checkout at King Soopers (Dillons to flat landers), otherwise we go through the checker.
I have heard at some places they are taking self checkout out.
I don't have credit cards and I don't use self-check outs. Those checkers need jobs, when you can find one at a check out lane. Why do they have 15 check out lanes and only 2 cashiers?? Any one know???
The self checkouts take cash also. They also give change. No human intervention. That is a little disconcerting also.
They may or may not have two checkers on duty to channel people to the self checkouts.
That problem caused me to go to doing it my self.
Quote from: W. Gray on July 16, 2007, 04:44:15 PM
They may or may not have two checkers on duty to channel people to the self checkouts.
That problem caused me to go to doing it my self.
It caused me to go absolutely anywhere else that I can find what I need before I resort to WalMart. I still do go there occasionally to price check and pick up a few specific items; but it's such a pain to find parking that amounts to 2 blocks from the store, bag-load-unload purchases myself, and walk endlessly from one corner of the store to the other, not to mention I can forget about finding someone to shake paint or get assistance when the sign says "ask for help with items on the top shelf"~ it's just truely easier and more pleasant for me to shop other places.
However, I do agree with W. that it's much quicker to use the self checkouts ~ unless you have something that needs weighed or is too large for the tiny scale. Have you ever tried buying something that has one of those alarm things in it? Like DVD's or razor blades? How does that work for you? I had wondered about theft too, because when I've used them there seems like little or no-one watching what goes on. I didn't know they took cash either, so that might make getting out of there even quicker for me in the future... I almost always leave WalMart in a bad mood, so I usually treat myself to a waffle cone frozen yogurt on the way out of town as a reward for not having a fit in the store. (sometimes I only get a bottle of water :-[) ;D
For a number of reasons, I dislike Walmart rather intensely myself. They have just made their existing store here bigger (about double) and are trying very hard to get permission to build a second one here. To me, Walmart is the poster child for the corporate "All that counts is cheap" mentality that has taken so many of our good jobs overseas and left many of our skilled workers manning the drive-through window at McDonalds.
The self-check-outs, by the way, record everything you do on camera.
;D
I don't have any problems like that at Batson's Drug Store, Family Market, or Cookson's True Value.
In fact, I think I will send Wal-Mart an email and let them know I don't need them at all anymore!!!
We've only had Walmart in Del. for a few years. The state tried and failed to keep them out. As expected, they caused the demise of some our small "Mom and Pop" stores that had wonderful personal service. Of course, having Home Depot and Lowes, Costco and BJ's don't help either. As our population gets older, those stores are just too big.
If nothing else, my multiple sclerosis will keep me out of huge stores like our recently super-sized Walmart. I'm not giving up walking until I absolutely have to, but stores like that make me fairly sure that I am going to keel over somewhere in the sundries department at the back of aisle 74.
;D
Most of our big stores here now have electric scooters. We have a very good ADA contingent that has been very succsessful here. One girl, Denise, is a real radical. She has been known to chain herself to doors in public places when she can't get her scooter inside.( post- polio syndrome) My husband has it too, and can still do pretty much whatever he wants, but he is on an "energy budget" each day. Mornings are great, but by afternoon he uses his scooter and has to rest and/or take a nap before evening activites. Fortunately, we found a wondeful post-polio Dr. at the Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania Hospital (HUP) in Philadelphia. Mary Ann Keenan. She is a world treasure. We were up there in June for a check up and there was a man there from Tulsa who had flown in just to see her, she's that good.
I completely understand the energy-budget concept. It is key in multimple sclerosis, too. I find that I have two limits: how far I can walk at one time (somewhere between a block and two blocks, depending on the day) and how far I can walk in the entire day (maybe a half dozen walks at the first kind of limit) without keeling over. I am a stubborn old fart and will eschew the use of scooters or chairs until I absolutely have to. I write the following about the subject of those limits:
Just a Few Hundred Steps A Day
Multiple Sclerosis is not an impartial disease. It treats everyone who contracts it at least a little bit differently than any of the others. However, there are a few common threads shared by many sufferers, including me. One such thread is the disease's limit on stamina, often involving walking distance restrictions, although the limitations vary widely by patient. This is a two-part problem. The first controls how far I can walk in one unbroken trip. The second controls how far I can walk in a full day before I just can't go another step until tomorrow.
These limitations, like most parts of the MS mystery, are not etched in stone. Some days I can do more. Some days I can't get even close to the usual limit. But it's very important for a person with MS to know what the limitations are. If I'm standing downtown at store "A" and a companion wants to go down the street to store "B," it's essential that I know whether or not I can make the entire round trip.
When such a situation occurs in my everyday life, I have a decision to make. My normal limit is about one block in a single trip and today feels like a normal day. The store is one and a half blocks away, but I can see a public bench about halfway along the route. We can do it! Three blocks in four segments is well within my capabilities. However, if the bench was not there, or the store was two blocks away, I would need to convince my companion to drive or go without me. Being stuck halfway between stops with nowhere to rest is not a good option for a person with Multiple Sclerosis.
Sometimes a day will be full of short trips: perhaps the drug store, the grocery store, the discount store, the coffee shop for a cup with a friend, and the dry cleaners. The longest round trip from the closest parking spaces to any of these destinations and back is usually only about three-quarters of a block, on average. That should work!
Well, on second thought, perhaps not. The total of those trips is about four blocks. If my overall walking limit for the day is four blocks, no matter how long I can rest between trips, I could very easily get into trouble with this itinerary. Exhaustion could hit me on the way out of the dry cleaners. Then, when I finally arrived at home, I would somehow need to carry all the purchased items into the house and put them away. A little later, I would have to get upstairs to the bedroom.
A person living with MS is forced to become good at logistics. Go to the discount store and the dry cleaners tomorrow. They'll wait. The truly inflexible factor in this situation is the total-steps-per-day limitation, so the person with MS has to be the flexible part of the calculations. It's better to delay a few errands than it is to get stuck halfway up the stairs tonight.
My personal limitations are about one hundred steps in a row (in the morning, perhaps fewer later in the day) and about six hundred steps total in one day. That makes it possible to do some finite number of things. I simply have to plan my days with my distance limitations in mind. Even so, some things are not possible at all without a wheelchair, such as going to a museum or getting through an airport.
It is also important to consider the effects on our caregivers. In my case, my steps-per-day limitations often increase the number of steps per day that my wife and daughter have to take on my behalf. The person with MS needs to be considerate, to help out wherever she or he can with tasks that are within their capabilities. Perhaps they can trade a hundred caregiver steps for an hour sitting in a chair folding the laundry.
At the very least, never ask a caregiver to take extra steps that aren't absolutely necessary. Caregivers sacrifice a great deal for us every day. It's not fair to ask them to sacrifice more just to satisfy a whim. We have to make sure that we never take advantage of our caregivers, for we would be lost without them.
Although RA is totally different from MS we also have to weigh how much energy is left before starting a new task, I know when the the battery dies its time to find something to do sitting down and recharge enough to get through the rest of the day which usually brings me to the forum :D
To both of you, I totally get it. I have a good friend with moderate MS and had two others with terribly bad cases that died from it. And humor does help....See, we are so silly for a reason. Medically, laughter really is good for you.
No matter what path you take to the requirement for an energy budget, the reality of it can take some getting used to. It's just one more hurdle to get over on the weird path that we wind up taking through life.
Me, too. When whatever I am doing tires me too much, it's off to the forum for a short? rest and a little cheering up.
So far, my sense of humor is pretty much all that has helped. As it transpires, I had it for ten or fifteen years before they diagnosed it. I have to admit that I spent some time wondering what the heck was going on with me. ;o) They finally found the scleroses with an MRI, but by then I was well past relapsing-remitting and just on that slow slide down. It is sufficiently slow at this point that something else will probably kill me.
But the differences among people with MS are amazing. About a year after I was diagnosed, a friend was also diagnosed. Within six months she was blind and in a wheel chair. Six months more and she was gone. I have worked with a lot of people with MS, through the NMSS, and in most ways I consider myself to be pretty darned lucky.
Quote from: SnakeHater on July 17, 2007, 09:48:44 AM
I don't have any problems like that at Batson's Drug Store, Family Market, or Cookson's True Value.
In fact, I think I will send Wal-Mart an email and let them know I don't need them at all anymore!!!
POW!!!!!
Now THAT statement should have hit home to the locals.........
and if it didn't then .."Shame on you!".
( It kinda hit home with me..that's for sure) :-[
I shop out of town for the items I CAN'T get here at home. clothing computer supplies..books etc... and I am guilty as charged for buying things at Walmart, that I could get here at home...when I am there. I really am.. I am getting so much better about shopping at home...
But... lots of times...
I sometimes walk out of the "super stores" with groceries etc.. that I could have just as easily bought right here at our hometown grocery store. :-[
And you know?
When I do.. I guiltily think about Julie and her long hard hours of work and investment to give us a grocery store ( that everyone in town was bitching and griping about ..when we DIDN'T have one )
And her drug store and prescriptions are equal in price to Wally World's... in fact on her drug prices.. she is cheaper in most cases.. and you get personal advise and service from someone who knows you and your family... and you won't get that in Walmart.!
And then I think about Mark and Derek Cookson..working their tails off every day in the hardware store, giving everyone who walks through the front door help and personal service that you would never ever in a million years get, at Walmart. People ask them to fix their broken mowers and weed eaters that they bought at Walmart, cause no one there will or CAN do it.! In fact, to have anything fixed anymore in this "throw away " society is a rarity.
But Mark and Derek fix all those things that people bought someplace else! And most aren't even aware enough to be embarrassed about that either!
And yes ..some things are higher than Walmart.. but some things aren't too.
Is Walmart going to care if you are a bit short of cash this month and let you 'charge' your purchases until you can pay? Is Walmart going to open their doors with personal service at midnight and help you put together your bathroom plumbing, cause you just woke up with busted pipes?
Is Walmart going to special order something for you and then if you can't get in to get it that day.. take it by your place or take it home and set it under the carport so you can pick it up when you get home?
And what would everyone do if these business's shut down? ???
Other than cry and moan and groan and whine around that Howard has become a ghost of a town..and what in the world happened and what are we going to do now.. ...blah blah blah.
They will be frantic in saying,"The 2 main business's has closed and who is going to open up something for us locals in Howard?"
The same people that will spend the money in gas to drive out of town to shop at Walmart
are the first ones to cry and wail when the grocery, drug store and hardware store is no longer here, because of not being able to make a living anymore..
I think I have made my point here!
((Guess I should have ranted on another thread huh~~ :-\)
Maybe I've just had a bad day..or maybe I'm just so overtired, overworked, and stressed out that I over reacted to this.. Maybe I need more sleep and more than 5 minutes to myself without the telephone ringing, or another batch of business work to do..............And maybe I should delete the whole damn post before I step on some toes....................
Or maybe I am just sick and tired of Big Corporations squeezing small town America out...and small town America contributing to help make it happen!
Oh well.... sighh.............
::)
Bingo.
Amen to everything you said, Teresa. I've had a deep disdain for Walmart for years and avoid it like the plague. What we spend in gasoline to save a few cents on an item is shameful. We already spend a great deal of our money in Howard when we're there, paying that extra few cents to keep Batson's and Cookson's alive. Many items I've bought at the "general store" rather than pay extra for something new in Wichita, and the used items have served us just as well (and saved $$). Last weekend we took the scenic route back to Wichita and drove through Eureka. We made a point to visit Howard's grocery store and the ALCO store. We think we'll have no problem finding things there if they aren't available in Howard, and they're prices are just as reasonable as Dillons. At the risk of stepping on a few toes, I'd urge folks who can't find what they want or need in Howard to take their dollars to Eureka and keep those small businesses going there as well. (OK, maybe ALCO isn't local, but it isn't Walmart, either!) OK....I've had my say and that's all I've got to say about that!
when you talk about prices being higher or lower somewhere else, don't forget to figure in your time and gasoline to get "somewhere else" then see where you could get it cheaper. More than likely RIGHT HERE AT HOME. (and your feet won't be killing you and your blood pressure won't sky rocket because of all the rudeness you had to put up with.)
I've found several grocery items to be cheaper at Batsons than they are at Dillons. Also, the propane heater that we selected at Cookson's Hardware was quite in line with Lowes. The service was so much better. Gas was cheaper to drive to Howard than to Wichita and Augusta. And of course we can't leave out my VALUABLE time. They actually will lislten to you if you have a complaint.
Lawrence has always been good about local businesses. Five blocks of downtown, on both sides are filled with them, as well as the side streets. But they are now mainly specialty shops, restaurants, galleries, etc. South Iowa has filled up with WalMart, Target, etc., etc., etc. Somehow, we keep the balancing act going and downtown continues to prosper. Still, we seem to be filling up with bigger chain stores. I don't know if it will ever stop.
Quote from: Teresa on July 17, 2007, 05:23:57 PM
Maybe I've just had a bad day..or maybe I'm just so overtired, overworked, and stressed out that I over reacted to this.. Maybe I need more sleep and more than 5 minutes to myself without the telephone ringing, or another batch of business work to do...
??? ??? I'm sitting here trying to figure out why Ms. T thinks that she is having a bad day, etc. Isn't that the way she is every day?????? :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel:
Uh,oh now we're really gonna git it! The Queen may take her septre out of the kitchen drawer and you know what happens then ... (quiver,quiver) SPELLS! That's how Frawg got that way, ya know.
< nod, nod >
;D
Now, Now, Janet. You need to be a little more generous to the Queen. After all, she lives her work over 20 hours a day at home and away (to hear her tell of it), and has half a dozen jobs that we know of, and bakes pies (so I've heard, I haven't had any yet!). You can surely allow that she'd be a little testy once in a while... And the title of the posting is all about complaints... And please don't either one of you pick on me now that I'm teasing you a little. And please, Please, PLEASE Janet; don't ever start bringing YOUR work home with you!
And I agree wholeheartedly with all the bad stuff anyone has to say about WalMart (I should modify that to say "within reason" considering where I'm posting this!) I used to own a flower shop and would have people literally bring me flowers & plants that they'd bought a WalMart and ask me why they didn't last or what they could to do get rid of bugs or disease. Or bring in things they'd bought at WalMart and ask me to DELIVER them!!! Some folks are completely oblivious to what it takes to be a positive part of a community. We are so lucky here to have the places we do!
Just FYI***I bought some poison ivy medicine at Batsons the other day, and when I was at WalMart later that week I saw the EXACT same thing for $9.00 more with a quicker expiration date. Unbelievable!
Quote from: Joanna on July 17, 2007, 07:49:16 PM
Now, Now, Janet. You need to be a little more generous to the Queen. After all, she lives her work over 20 hours a day at home and away (to hear her tell of it), and has half a dozen jobs that we know of, and bakes pies (so I've heard, I haven't had any yet!).
I won't complain about my work load anymore...(http://www.cascity.com/howard/animations/shy.gif) I'm sorry everybody~~~~
But sometimes I just get so .........................so.........................sniff sniff.....
Well~~~~ I just get so tired and I have no time to do anything for 'me'............ (http://www.cascity.com/howard/forum/cry.gif) Waaahhh~~(http://www.cascity.com/howard/forum/crykleenex.gif)
(http://www.cascity.com/howard/animations/48.gif)
Ok Ok Ok~~~ Pity Party show is over folks.. Break it up... go back to your computers or whatever you were doing before this sad soap opera started.. And Teresa... get your Kleenex's all picked up, quit your sniveling and get to that bookwork! You're burning daylight!
blowing off steam is cheaper than blood pressure pills - let 'er fly >:( >:( >:(- and the only one within "bang that skilllet" distance is Kjell - might give him a warning first. ;D
Quote from: Teresa on July 18, 2007, 09:27:56 AM
Ok Ok Ok~~~ Pity Party show is over folks.. Break it up... go back to your computers or whatever you were doing before this sad soap opera started.. And Teresa... get your Kleenex's all picked up, quit your sniveling and get to that bookwork! You're burning daylight!
Boy Teresa, when you're so hard on yourself, it takes some of the fun out of teasing you :'( Don't worry though, that won't stop me... ;)
Every one that lives in Howard, Kansas America need to be very thankful for the "home town People" that care about the needs of other and keep their businesses open and stocked for all to shop there.
My pet peeve is " Well- the prices are higher here than in Wichita"...
Well, then saddle your horse and ride to Wichita, and when you get home and find out it doesn't fit - or work - then saddle back up and ride out there again.
The small town merchants that are still fighting the Wal-Mart system, are to be commended and appreciated!
Guess I will set down now.
I agree with you, Jo, but the prices here aren't that much higher than they are in Wichita. Before I moved over here two years ago, I changed my prescriptions to Julie's. I was surprised that her prices weren't that much more than Wal-Mart where I had been getting them. When I go to Wichita I have several things besides shopping that I need to do and this summer has been busy with doctors, car shopping. A trip to Wichita leaves me so tired the rest of the week that sometimes I don't think it is worth it. I told 1st daughter the other day that I was going to need a keeper real soon, but she didn't volunteer.
You really should be glad of that, Wilma, you need to check out "where she would keep you"
You may want to rethink that option. lol
Awwwww~~~ spoken like someone who is thinking....
haha
Don't you worry Mama.. if you ever need a keeper..
you are lookin' at the ole bird who will set on the nest and keep you safe.. :-*
Nest? I thought you had a broom????
and speaking of nests, this quip was at the bottom of an e-mail I received this morning. "God provides food for the birds, but he does not throw it in their nests" -
I like that one flo.. "how true"
Ta Ta..
I RIDE a broom...
And if you have ever encountered an old hen who is "settin' a nest"..
Then you know what you are about to encounter if you keep bein' mean to me. >:(
Just think --- all I wanted to do was sort of whisper in Wilma's ear -- and look what a ruckus I started.
But 'tis good to know that my nest is going to be sat on and I am the old hen that is going to be watched over. I'm sure the other "chick" in my family will help her out and Nest Set too.
Lordy-I sure hope I have not stirred up another mess of feathers.
Jo, perhaps it's time for some "wing clipping" ;D ;D ;D
(http://www.cascity.com/howard/animations/grind.gif)
I go back and read some of these posts in this forum.. and if we just don't beat all! ;D
We are all a sight! I laugh at all of us.. even myself ( cause I think I really am funny sometimes)
I hope the newcomers don't read our giving each other hell and think we are serious.. lol
??? we're not???? who's not???? Have I been fooled all this time?????
Geez, I agree with Flo. I was just here to watch the food fights!
;D
N-I-I-I-C-E! Never mind, that was Midnight the cat, on Froggie the Gremlin.
Quote from: flo on July 20, 2007, 03:14:58 PM
??? we're not???? who's not???? Have I been fooled all this time?????
flo, we are mean. Don't let Ms. T fool you. We are the meanest, nastiest, people on the face of the earth. If you don't believe me, just ask people who think they know us.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Well you have heard of "feathers flying ??? Well this old hen is leaving the nest --- time to move about and see if the muscles still work after all this Hen settin' time.
What a fun relaxing day I have had...no work -- just laughs and giggles.
Quote from: Jo McDonald on July 21, 2007, 03:10:33 PM
Well you have heard of "feathers flying ??? Well this old hen is leaving the nest --- time to move about and see if the muscles still work after all this Hen settin' time.
What a fun relaxing day I have had...no work -- just laughs and giggles.
Jo, it would be hard to camp underwater, so the flood kind of gives you a vacation. ha
True---but believe me, We are more than ready to see tents - campers- motor homes, 5th wheels and all sorts of vacation equipment pull in here----one man-one woman- one RV enough already. Let the water recede and let the people come in!!!
got a reply about Julie at Batson's - a couple weeks ago took down one of my prescriptions for a refill and there was a mix-up with this danged "Prescription thingy" that we medi-care people have to have and they denied my prescription saying I was using the wrong social security number! - I came home, got on the phone and INSISTED on talking to a human and finally did. Julie knew this was a mistake, but couldn't get through to them. She gave me a weeks worth to have because I was out, got the problem taken care of, and I went in a few days later and got the rest of the prescription. NOW would Wal-Mart have given me enough to tide me over???? I don't think so.
This isn't exactly what this thread started about, but LTC Green from Iraq sent this story to me and I enjoyed it. I hope I don't get in trouble for the language:
A South Carolina farm wife called the local phone company to report her telephone failed to ring when her friends called and that on the few occasions when it did ring, her dog always moaned right before the phone rang. The telephone repairman proceeded to the scene, curious to see this psychic dog or senile lady. He climbed a telephone pole, hooked in his test set and dialed the subscriber's house. The phone didn't ring right away, but then the dog moaned and the telephone began to ring. Climbing down from the pole, the telephone repairman found:
1. The dog was tied to the telephone system's ground wire with a steel chain and collar.
2. The wire connection to the ground rod was loose.
3. The dog was receiving 90 volts of signaling current when the number was called.4. After a couple of jolts, the dog would start moaning and then urinate.
5. The wet ground would complete the circuit, thus causing the phone to ring.
Which demonstrates that some problems CAN be fixed by pissing and moaning.
LOL!
Very good, Carl!
;D
That is very funny, thanks! :D
;D ;D ;D ;D but poor dog
Some days, I think most of us can feel sympathy with that poor dog. Something bad comes shooting in from somewhere far away, well beyond our control, and leaves us in a bigger mess than we were in just moments before. I think the dog has the appropriate response figured out.
;D
That is sooooo funny, Carl. I had read that before, but I still liked it.