hassles cost $5

(July 12, 2007)

so last night was a mission and a half. kait, my little sis, and i had to buy a bridal shower gift for a shower we are going to this weekend...before i start my story i should probably explain just how much i dislike this part of what we call “the wedding”.
why do we need parties to celebrate the bigger party...why are there no men at a shower....why do these events have themes and games (blech). i know they are traditional and that i am sure some people love them but i get all weirded out by them. yes you are getting married, yes it is a very big decision, but it is not the only big one you will make in your life. (FYI kait did plan a shower for me due to our mother’s insistence on it, i did not want one but i got one and i know kait planned it against her will so i forgave her....there were no games)

anyhooo so there we are in home outfitters strolling aisles while we ponder what to buy (it had to be plate related because yep...it is a “plate” party) so after a bit kait starts muttering that she is going to kill herself and i am wondering if the massage chair might kill me, we moved on to pier 1, mikasa and finally indigo. yup, the bookstore is where we found our plates. Success and no bloodshed... well at least not that moment. So we get 2 plates, 1 set of cute coasters, and a cookbook. we practically ran to the till we were so happy...plus that is where the lindor chocolates are. enter new cashier...there we are at the front all excited to be done and kait asks if they have a box for one of the plates, cashier replies “are you asking for a box?” i was a bit taken aback as i had just heard what kait said, so how could this person not? kait said “uh yeah that is what i asked for”. We get a no on the box. ok cool then maybe we can get it to fit in the bigger box with the other plate. So we checked it out and things look good, kait makes sure the cashier gets the code so that we can put the 2 away together. i ask for gift receipts (a must with any wedding related gift) and then i get 3 different ones including one for the card. at this point i am laughing out loud....as someone who worked in retail for a long time i cannot believe this craziness. we leave slightly pissed off but glad we are done.

15 minutes later... i arrive at my folks place where i was going to wrap the gift before kait and i watched “so you think you can dance.” i started digging through the bag and realize i am not only missing another gift receipt but my original receipt, with the list of what we had bought, is no where to be seen. i call the store, speak to a helpful sales associate who locates my receipt...then i had a bad feeling and asked if the smaller plate was on there, it was not. so basically we have stolen a plate (ironic as kait made a joke about this in the beginning). at this point i am not impressed but said i would get back there to sort it all out

2 hours later... after watching our dance show and eating jalapeno cheese i went back to indigo to sort this whole mess out. i get there pull out all the stuff, talk with the manager, try not to get frustrated, buy the stolen plate, get all my receipts and, get this, i was given a $5 gift card for the hassle...yes $5 covers my gas and annoyance. Sheeeeeeeesh. at least give me a book...or, if i was kait, the bucket of lindor chocolates.