Beware the Impulse Buy
At Costco today, one of the sample tables is offering Bodega chocolate. They are selling chocolate covered apples. I think to myself, well, I am having friends over for dinner tonight. I can cut this into slices and everyone can have a piece. Hey, come on, what’s one little impulse buy?
Ahem, fourth circle.
I get all the way to the front of the line and there is a problem with the bar code on the white chocolate apple. There’s confusion. Scurrying. FIVE different people get involved in their attempt to figure it out. One of them actually gets on the loudspeaker and proceeds to have a CONVERSATION with the people in the office—
“The bar code on the white chocolate not working”
“We’ve been having that problem all morning”
“What should I do”
“Do the green code this scan that enter this…”
“Blah blah blah.”
“Blah.”
Meanwhile, all I hear is this–
“Why is buying this?”
“I know, what happened to that New Year’s Resolution to lose weight?”
“Seriously. Shouldn’t she take the failure to scan as a sign she shouldn’t be buying it?”
Everyone in the line is impatiently hmph-ing and tapping their toes and staring at me, so naturally, I regret opting out of a shower this morning. I also regret the choice of ragged jeans and old sweatshirt. But hello, it’s not MY fault that Costco can’t get their act together and feel the need to have an entire discourse on the fact that they can’t get their act together, making it all the more obvious that they don’t have their act together.
Obviously, I could have done away with the entire dilemma by simply saying “Nevermind,” but that just causes more irate-ness along the lines of “If it’s not that important, why did you get it in the first place” and “Fine, let’s just forget about all the trouble we’ve already gone to.”
I am home now. I am eating the apple. To hell with my dinner guests.
Check that. Third circle.
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Our local Costco is notorious as the place where Costco’s throughout North America dump their unsold merchandise because WE WILL BUY ANYTHING.It’s true!
You’re problem is that the white chocolate had an apple in it. The plain white chocolate rang up just fine.
You make me laugh! I love reading your posts! Thanks for the advice with the pictures, I will take it! Also, thanks for the suggestion with the 800 number, you’re right, That’s how I’m going to start, Locally first. I haven’t been to Costco in a while,I think I remember why now!
Oh Costco is capital of the Impulse Buy. How many times do I go in there for stuff totalling $50 and walk out with over $100 worth of tasties?
My oh my. I wouldn’t have kept as cool. I would have been glaring back at the impatient people.
We have a Sams in my area (similar to Costco with the whole bulk thing and the samples) and we specifically avoid sample day (Saturday) unless we’re dying, a.k.a. out of diapers/wet wipes. They never have their crap together on the sample items. And the holidays are worse.
You know better than to listen to those voices in your head! Banish them and eat chocolate apples! But avoiding Costco might be in your future.
i say enjoy the apple and to hell with the too-busy-to-wait shoppers who can’t appreciate a good buy when they see one. or at least that no one escapes costco without eleventybillon (and one!) things that they hadn’t intended to buy!
i say enjoy the apple and to hell with the too-busy-to-wait shoppers who can’t appreciate a good buy when they see one. or at least that no one escapes costco without eleventybillon (and one!) things that they hadn’t intended to buy!
I worked at Wal-Mart one summer (I was 16), and I was always so shocked the way that some customers were SO MEAN to other customers who brought things to the checkout that wouldn’t, um, checkout.
You took me right back there, my friend. Right back to a summer full of nothing but price checks and red slushies.
mmmm…chocolate.