Oh What a Night

Oh man, the PMS she-devil has gotta hold a' me! Last night, after putting it off for weeks, I finally sat down to buy online tickets to my friend's upcoming wedding in San Francisco. I dreaded doing it, because it wasn't just that I was going from Boston to SF and back; that would have been easy. No, I wanted to see my cousin James in Lompoc, which is closer to LA than SF, but sort of in the middle of nowhere, as he says. With all the logistics of when to go, how to get from here to there and back, it was a little much. Not to mention the prices.

Finally, I did it. I had spent probably 2 hours total going through this whole thing, and at the very end of Yahoo travel, they announced that my itinerary would be sent to my email address, which I noticed was one letter off! At this point I burst into tears. Yes, I know I can get the info somehow, but I was just so at the end of my rope. I couldn't print out the itinerary that was floating around in cyberspace anyway, because my printer had less than 5% of ink remaining, and my computer told me that if there was no ink in the printer it could stop working.

So, at my wit's end, I called my friend Hiro to go to Staples with me to get the ink. While I waited for him to pick me up, I ate a bowl of Special K for dinner. When Hiro arrived, I told him I wanted to go to my usual Staples, but he wanted to go to his, where you didn't have to pay for parking. After mild complaining from me, I acquiesced and we went to his.

I got my stuff, redeemed my cash card (current value: 63 cents), and swiped my ATM card to pay for my transaction. It didn't go through. I tried swiping it different ways, the young woman behind the counter tried different things, and it still didn't work. I asked for a manager, who came over, and she told me that because it was an ATM card that didn't have a credit card logo on it, it wouldn't work. If I had wanted to use a credit card, I would have used a credit card; I try not to use it on purpose. My ATM card works everywhere, including my Staples.

I didn't have any cash and was really pissed at this point. I said, "Well, I guess I can't get my stuff then", and I walked out. The cashier tried to give me my 63 cent cash card back, but I told her to keep it. I wanted to tell the manager to swipe it up her arse, but I didn't, because I am a mild mannered preschool teacher and kind to everyone.

Hiro and I went across the street to Dunkin' Donuts, where I ordered a chocolate frosted donut. The cashier said, "Would you like another one? It would just be a dollar." "Yes, I would!" I cried. Before we got back into the car I went back into the Staples and apologized to the young cashier, who again tried to give me my cash card. Poor thing, she looked so flustered. As Hiro and I drove home I told him that in the morning I was going to my Staples to see if my card worked there, and I'd call him to let him know.

Hey, guess what? My card worked at my Staples! I called Hiro and told him that I was never going to his Staples again. He understood.

I feel better today. Chocolate helps.