Hold it!

There is a girl (we'll call her Beth) who works in another department in our office that my department works with frequently. Beth is nice enough to work with. But Beth has a bad habit.

This morning I rode the elevator up to the 3rd floor with another girl (dang, picking names is hard! Umm... she can be Cindy), Beth took the stairs right before Cindy and I got on the elevator. A wise choice, if you're even a little quick you can beat the elevator every time.

So Cindy and I were chatting as we exited the elevator and walked down the hall to the door to our offices, and Beth was walking about 5 paces in front of us, the first to get to the door. The kind of door you have to use an electronic FOB to open. Cindy detoured through a different door and I followed Beth. Beth opened the door, didn't look back, and walked through, letting the door close behind her JUST as I reached it. There is no way she didn't know I was behind her. I am a loud walker, I jingle my keys, and two seconds before Beth opened the door I had called after Cindy to "have a good day."

Beth is not deaf.

That's the second time she's done that to me! What is so hard about holding the door for a few seconds??

UGH.

-Kitty

Everyone must wait their turn.

Why is it that old people, seniors, the AARP crowd, grandma's and general geriatrics think they are above waiting in line? Why do these people think that cramming their carts into the back of my heels might make the line go faster? Do they really think that hacking up a lung in my ear will actually make the cashier move a little faster? NO! Everyone must wait their turn.

I wonder, is it all seniors? Or is it the seniors that seek me out?

One more thing. Do all senior citizens need to go for their "joy rides" while I am on my lunch hour? I only have a small window of opportunity to enjoy my lunch, and really driving behind you and Myrtle, going 25 miles per hour does not help the experience.

* I would like to apologize to any LOVELY SENIORS that read this blog, this was not directed towards YOU personally, just the ones that go below the speed limit, get all huffy in lines, and that enjoy hacking a lung in my general direction, thank you*

-Katherine

The Shining Moment in my Day

I'm feeling much better since yesterday. Well, about traffic anyway. Vindication will do that to you.

I drive 25 miles to and from work every day. Today's traffic was particularly horrendous, and it took me over an hour to get home. That was because this weekend is the Strawberry Festival one town away from where I live (in the town that Katherine lives in actually). I myself have never gone. I guess I would rather eat strawberries in the comfort of my own home, and without the pleasure of paying twelve bucks just to get entrance to them.

But I digress.

Apparently the Strawberry Festival is a big draw to people from L.A. and the Inland Empire because there were a LOT of out of towners on the freeway. Whatever, I expected this as I can see the freeway from my office.

So here's what ticked me off: While everyone else is pretty much patiently cruising along at a leisurely 15 mph for several miles, some Angelenos (a.k.a. douchebags from L.A.) in a black Porsche Cayenne decide they're more important than everyone else and start passing people on the left shoulder every time traffic stops. Then when it picks up again they cut off some poor sap. Traffic stops - they pass, goes - cut someone off. I guess it was REALLY important they get to those strawberries ASAP. So I got peeved, but what could I do?

A minute or two after they pass me, I hear blaring sirens, and a cop speeds past, also in the shoulder. I prayed to sweet, sweet Jesus, "Please don't let him be racing to an accident, please say he saw that Cayenne..." And guess what? That's right - the good Lord answered my prayer. A couple minutes later I see the Cayenne pulled over on the right shoulder with the cop car behind it. YES!! I may have laughed and pointed. They probably didn't see me, but it made me feel better.

Apparently a lot of other people felt the same way. One or two cars beeped their horns as they drove past, and the cop gave a friendly wave. I imagine he was saying, "Just doin' my job, folks. Happy to be of service."

Ahhh... That was totally worth some exhaust in the face.

-Kitty

Dis.gus.ting.

So I was driving home from work last night, in the home stretch right before my exit, feeling pretty good. It was a beautiful day, my window was open, the wind was tousling my hair, and I had NO plans for the evening. Ahhh...

I was just about to pass this obnoxious, armored transport-type truck who was getting on the freeway (slooowly), and move over into the exit lane, when I saw the driver look at me in his side mirror. The front of my car was next to his back bumper and I was going probably 10-15 mph faster than him (and he still had tons of time to get over had he let me pass), but he started moving over into me anyway! I slammed on the brakes to avoid him, but then I got hit anyway - by a CLOUD OF BLACK EXHAUST coming from the truck. There was so much smoke! It smelled like filthy burning oil, and it filled up my car since I'd been cruising happily with my window open. Blech!

So I let the guy know how that made me feel (read: I flipped him the bird), and he had the nerve to watch me in his side mirror, and then start laughing! Grrr...

I got off the freeway, and turned onto the frontage road that leads to my house, still going the same direction as the truck. Since traffic slows right after my exit, I was still driving next to it except they were up higher. Well, I looked up, and the guy in the passenger seat WAVED TO ME, laughing!! Unfortunately, there was a cop in front of me so I chose not to give him another gesture, not that it would have made me feel any better.

I think this goes beyond rude and straight into the ASSH*LE category. I really wish I had gotten the name of the company off the truck so I could call and complain. Oh well. With any luck their crappy driving will lead them to hit a police car some day and vengeance shall be mine.

I only hope I'm lucky enough to witness it, so I can just laugh and wave...

-Kitty

Thank you & Come again!

Have you noticed that customer service is really lacking in the retail market? At Target, they are so frazzled to rush you through the line, that they hardly look up and practically throw your items at you to get you out the door faster. At McDonald's, Lord knows what will end up in your bag because the employees are so programed to get a person out the door that THEY don't even know what they are putting in the bags.

Just yesterday, I went to Kohl's. I purchased one item. I was in a short line, one person was ahead of me. I thought to myself, great! I will get out of here, PRONTO! Well, the checker picked up the phone during the transaction ahead of me, and it looked like she was going to take care of us then get back to the phone. Or so I thought. She did take care of the person in front of me, proceeded to pick up the phone, tells the person on the other end of her call, "I have one more". ( I assume, that was code for "customer") Keeps the phone at her ear, finished my transaction, puts the bag down, the receipt on top of the bag, hangs up the phone and WALKS AWAY! I hadn't even put my wallet away, when she was GONE! Nothing! Crickets! No, Thank you! No, Have a nice day! No, Thank you for shopping at Kohl's! Just the dust she kicked up from run/walking away!

So I say to those few who read this rant, Thank you & Come Again!

-Katherine