Today's rambling: Don't Eat Garlic Bob!
Written on September 21, 2001 at 7:01 p.m.
while feeling a bit

Been a little bit since I last wrote...partly because I've been tired from work, partly because I've finally pulled out my real diary and have written a couple entries in it, and partly because my problems have all been the same (if you're wondering what, just read the past few entries)! So I haven't had much need to be writing in here. I know, like that's a real big bummer or something. ;)

Anyway. Something I wanted to rant about, which is job-related (surprise, surprise). As I found out a couple of days ago, Genuardi's (most likely thanks to Safeway *gag*) has given in and started promoting a 'Bonus Club Card'. I will tell you right now that it's about the STUPIDEST decision they could EVER have made!

Some of you may be wondering what exactly this card is. Well, it's simple. The store has sales and things. You CANNOT BUY these sales unless you've signed up to get this ridiculous card. So say that...toilet paper was on sale or something. Customer A has the card and buys this toilet paper, therefore getting the sale price. Customer B, however, does NOT have this card, but buys the EXACT SAME brand. Customer B does NOT get the sale price.

This is absolutely bloody STUPID! How is it fair to make people get some little piece of plastic just so they can take up on sale prices? My former job had a card, and I remember people used to get pissed when they bought something which they thought was on sale, only to find out that they couldn't get the sale price because they didn't have a card. And I agree with them completely. When I first came to Genuardi's as a cashier, I remember there were SO many customers who used to ask if they needed a card, and of course we didn't. And this one time, the store manager was walking by at the time a customer asked, and he's all like, "That's the good thing about shopping at our store; you don't need to have a card to get the sales!"

HA! And now look at us, becoming another faceless grocery chain in the hell that is SAFEWAY. I frickin' HATE Safeway. I wish Safeway would curl up and die. Safeway sucks. Do you get the idea?

But anyway, so today the whole management team was really gung-ho on getting people to sign up for this card. Their gimmick is that when you use the card, you get entered for things like digital cameras and blah blah blah. And you earn frequent flyer miles for United Airlines (or Airways...whatever it is). I laughed at that one. Yeah, like we all want to fly on that airline, the terrorist's best friend! Employees have a different card from customers (I didn't bother to ask why), and our little bribes are a digital camera and a 2002 Ford Something-Or-Other. Woo. Ha.

John (the department manager) gave us a little briefing on the cards today, and he brought back applications for all of us. I have to admit that the idea of winning that car (or it might be a Blazer/SUV-ish thing) was tempting, but I hold my values a little higher than that, and I STRONGLY disagree with the idea of having this card (if you couldn't tell already). So at one point John asked me if I'd signed up yet. "No," I replied, "Nor am I going to."

"Why not?" he asks, completely surprised.

"Because I don't even agree with it, so why would I sign up??"

"You don't agree with it?" (Apparently, this was a hard idea to grasp.)

"No! I don't think it's fair to make someone have to get a card just so they can get sale prices!"

He was silent for a few moments afterward (though Mare jokingly remarked, "She's protesting!"), and then he made some crack about Mum getting the card. Which I already knew she would. And that's fine, she has no opinions about the card which would otherwise be compromised.

Let me tell you, even though it didn't really matter that I was the only employee (that I know of) who didn't sign up, I felt quite empowered! I didn't give in to this stupid idea! I stuck to what I believed in! And I thought that would be the first and only time I would be asked to sign up, but no, of course that wasn't it.

I went to ask Mum if she'd signed up, and as predicted, she said yes. I told her my story, hoping maybe she'd just kinda be like, "Wow" or something, but of course she was like "Sign up so we can win the car!" *blinks* She's REALLY starting to irritate me, these days! Either she doesn't care about anything I say, or some other reason I can't fathom. Whatever the reason, I gave her a firm no and threw back over my shoulder that I wasn't going to sign up, the card sucked (I hope the customer sitting at the 'sign-up' table heard me, hehe). Five, ten minutes later, what happens? Erin comes trotting back (I'd like to lock her in the bread proofer and never let her out, the annoying biznatch) and says "Your Mom says you have to sign up so you can win the car!" Not what I needed to hear, especially from someone who irritates me by her mere presence anyway. She got as far as handing me the application and the little 'terms and agreement' thing I had to sign (you're not allowed to let others use your card) before I told her just as vehemently that I was not going to sign up. And so she left to get all the other employees to sign up.

John gave one last feeble attempt (saying that he had a message from Mum that I was to sign up or I 'wouldn't be getting a new car'), but I quickly silenced him by retorting, "It doesn't matter anyway, I don't even have my license."

Like the only woman in Congress who voted no, I shall go down as the only Genuardi's employee (possibly) who did not sign up for a Bonus Club Card. And it's not like I did anything BAD, y'know? Like, I'm sure management is irritated that I'm not taking up on this "great opportunity", but y'know what? My beliefs are a leetle more important, and even though it's really not that big a deal, it still means a lot to me that a store that was once so nice is going downhill so quickly! First selling out to SAFEWAY (I'm just trying to get search engines to pick this up so more people know I hate SAFEWAY), and then getting these stupid cards....BAH! SAFEWAY SUCKS, SAFEWAY SUCKS, SAFEWAY SUCKS!!!

*thumbs her nose at SAFEWAY*

I know, putting the word all in caps doesn't make it any more likely to be picked up by search engines. But it's fun.

Lessee, the stuff that happened LAST night that I'd wanted to share. Nothing really great, but it helped me get through my day, and that's always good!

Bryan and Ryan, these two kids who are mentally disabled or something (Ryan doesn't show it too much, but he's in dishroom so I don't notice...Bryan, on the other hand, is terrible)...they were working yesterday. They only work from 9 to 1, so I don't have to deal with them TOO long! ;) And no, I don't have any sort of prejudice against people with disabilities, but they run along the same line as kids for me...I HATE looking after kids, and sometimes (with Bryan, anyway), it's like having to look after one. So that's the only reason why I get irritated. *shrug* Call it what you like, but your looks are making me interrupt my own story! So close your eyes. Go ahead, close them! Oh, wait. Then you can't read. Stop it with these choices, already!!!

*coughcough* Yeah. So they were working, and I think I was feeling a little silly from lack of sleep. Thus, I started making up comic book/superhero names for all of us. Ryan was "The Amazing Dishwashing Kid", and I was "The Evil Plutonian" (odd story there). I decided that Bryan, since he worked in bakery with me, was going to be my sidekick, but I couldn't think of any worthy names for him. So he was dubbed "Sidekick Bob". That was about as far as things went, but I was having fun just calling people by their names, hehe :oP It was a way to get through my day, as I said!

Later on, as I was making bread, I had a little dough left over and so I decided to make a little guy out of it. I dubbed him Bob, too, because I just think that's a funny name. Anyway, I was originally planning to make him, show him off, and then toss him in the garbage, but Kerri brought up the idea of putting him on a tray, letting him proof (aka 'puff up') for a little bit, putting some garlic stuff on him, and then letting him bake. Thus, "Garlic Bob" was born.

I felt kinda bad eating Garlic Bob, but, alas, he was bread. That's what he'd been created for. His last revenge was making sure that he had too much parmesan cheese, though, thereby making him taste rather bad. Oh well, it was still fun making him! I was hoping I'd have some leftover dough today so I could make another one (though I was thinking of making it in the shape of Freddie Mercury and bringing it home so I could take pictures of it with my digicam and show everyone how much of a life I DON'T have)...but I had no dough. Heh!

That's about the extent of it. I hope you enjoyed my entry...and look at that, Matt wasn't really even mentioned at all! Don't think that means I've stopped being paranoid, however! :oP