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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that nipping to the town quickly, should be quick?

26 replies

D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 10:33

Dd1 realised that her swimming costume was too small and her new one was at Gran's. She had her first school swimming today. My fault I know, we should have been more organised. She took her ill fitting costume and ran in to ask what time they go swimming. 10am she told me. I told her to keep her old costume with her just in case but I would be able to get her another cosy that fits in time. She then told me that DH had not filled her water bottle for lunch so I told her I'd leave a drink in with her swimming cosy.

Her school is a 5 minute walk from the town or 15 minutes to Gran's and there is no guarantee Gran would be able to find the costume. I decide going to get a new cosy would be easiest.

Shop 1: The Post Office, to get money out to buy the cosy. I had to queue for 20 minutes. Which would be fair enough, but out of 12 desks, they only had 5 open and the cashiers spent more time talking to pensioners about up coming holidays than they did serving people Angry Why can't they just sodding well serve people? Why the chatting when the queue is getting longer and longer? FFS.

Shop 2: The hairdressers. I realised she would not have packed a brush because she was rushing about, so I called in to get her a new one on my way past. There was no queue. It should have been simple, no? It wasn't. The server answered the phone half way through serving me, he'd already taken my money, so I had to wait while he sorted out next weeks hours withe the area manager until I got my change Angry

Shop 3: The Sports shop. This was fairly straight forward, but they managed to piss me off anyway because apparently they don't do carrier bags anymore, you have to pay £1 for their bags for life Hmm

Shop 4: I still had just over 20 minutes left, so called in to get her a new towel from Primark. Again no queue. But of course the towel I selected had not been put into the computer till system or something, again they wandered off with my money, leaving me to wait for my towel and my change.

Shop 5: The newsagents. A young lad in front of me trying to buy fags except he had no money, after the fourth time he asked "Well how much are Superkings? I have £3.50" I had lost the will to live and gave him a quid so I could get served.

I made it back to the school just as she was getting onto the school bus very flustered and annoyed.

Why do things like this always happen when you're in a rush? And would it BU to open the wine already?

OP posts:
wannabedomesticgoddess · 25/02/2013 10:35

Thats a little bit more disorganised than leaving a swim suit at grannies.

A new hair brush and towel? Really?

HotPinkWeaselWearingLederhosen · 25/02/2013 10:36

Because the universe is a bastard Grin

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 10:38

The towel was just because I was walking past Primark and saw there was no queue, so called in to get her one as a nice surprsie because her own swimming towel was at Gran's so she'd packed just a plain red one instead of her own bejeweled illuminous pink thing that she loves. I expected to just walk in select a towel, pay for it and leave. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect buying a towel to be easy.

OP posts:
Alibabaandthe40nappies · 25/02/2013 10:51

I would most definitely not have bothered with the towel.

livinginwonderland · 25/02/2013 11:15

it seems like you made the whole thing take longer than it needed to.

Sparklingbrook · 25/02/2013 11:17

I don't like using a new towel until it's been washed. Sad

But I know what you mean. When you are in a rush it's like everything conspires against you.

Hoaz · 25/02/2013 11:21

Hmm. If I was being all judgey you got loads of things wrong there!

The biggest being, rewarded with a new towel for forgetting her own, even though she had a perfectly functional one to use? How will she ever learn to be more organised than you are? Grin

My DCs are reminded once the night before to get everything they need ready for school. If they don't then frankly that's their problem. It's strange though that after one or two mishaps to begin with, they do generally have what they need.

I'll let you off is DD is under 6 Wink

TeenyW123 · 25/02/2013 11:48

Towels need washing before they become absorbent. Well, they used to.

Teeny

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 11:50

I've never washed towels before using them. I didn't know you had to.

I just thought it would be a nice treat and was still in a good mood at this point. Had I realised how long it would have taken I wouldn't have bothered.

OP posts:
Wewereherefirst · 25/02/2013 12:02

Why oh why did you queue at the PO? Save time and use an ATM

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 12:05

It's one of those card only savings accounts. The card only works at the counter.

OP posts:
Bogeyface · 25/02/2013 12:12

PO, fair enough. Hairdressers?! You could have got a brush from Primark if you knew you would be going near there. Towel? Ok could have worked if you got the brush at the same time, but frankly there was no need. And why did you go to the newsagents?

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 12:17

I went to the newsagents to get her a drink for her lunch because DH forgot to put her drink in her packed lunch. The hairdressers is opposite the PO. I had not decided to buy a towel at that point. I only decided to on my way out of the town when I passed the shop and noticed there was no queue. I just thought it would be a nice treat for her. She is an odd child. She likes getting things like new, fancy towels Confused

I still had enough time to get back to the school, by that point. I wrongly assumed I would be able to walk in, pay for the towel and leave. I really didn't expect to have any trouble buying a towel.

OP posts:
cindersinsuburbia · 25/02/2013 12:18

you can use PO cards (If they are the type you get benefits/pensions paid into) in post office ATMS - might help someone out

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 12:20

It's not a benefits account. It's a savings account. You can only use it at the counter, it doesn't have the link logo on it.

OP posts:
Catsdontcare · 25/02/2013 12:21

Post office not your fault, everything else, erm well all a bit unnecessary and faffy

cindersinsuburbia · 25/02/2013 12:21

oh i've never had savings with the PO

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 12:56

Well yes, it was faffy, but my point was it shouldn't have been. I should be able to get served in the PO without having to wait for the lady in front of me to finish telling the cashier about her pending trip to Tenerife. I should be able to go in and buy a hairbrush without having to know that the person serving me worked 40 hours last week, is understaffed and interviewing again on Wednesday. I should be able to buy a swimming costume without also having to buy a bag. I should be able to buy a towel without having to wait for someone to reprogramme a till. The newsagent should have asked the lad in front of me to stand to one side while he made his mind up about what he wanted.

The whole shopping trip should have taken half an hour at most.

OP posts:
Bogeyface · 25/02/2013 13:02

Yes but you should have made sure that your DD had what she needed and you didnt. You made a mistake and so did others. Shit happens!

ISeeSmallPeople · 25/02/2013 13:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hoaz · 25/02/2013 13:06

Hmm, I'm not sure. It's awful when you're in a rush and no-one else is, but you know that was your fault because of being disorganised right?

It's not really so bad that the PO cashier took the time to chat to a customer or that a shop assistant was patient with someone taking time to make a decision, or that the hairdressers receptionist tried to have a conversation with you, or for that matter that some shops are trying to avoid plastic bag use/abuse (although I acknowledge the fact that they get to charge you extra is a nice bonus for them)

Save us from a world where no-one ever has time to pass the time of day with anyone.

kinkyfuckery · 25/02/2013 13:11

Bloody hell, talk about making an arse of things!

Primark - swimming cossie, towel, hairbrush, then school - drop it all off.

Or just be more bloody organised.

You can't blame every other person you've encountered today for being useless, when you don't appear to know your arse from your elbow!

redskyatnight · 25/02/2013 13:11

Shop assistants always vary their speed to match the time of day.
First thing in the morning they are always on a go slow because it's not very busy.

Same way that if you go to the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon they chuck your shopping down the conveyor quicker than you can catch it, but if you go midmorning on Tuesday they generally examine each item and engage you in conversation.

redskyatnight · 25/02/2013 13:13

How old is your child OP? If about 7 or more, I'd suggest training them to make sure they have everything ready the night before. And they can surely sort their own drink.
If your child is 4 I will forgive you.

Original poster
D0oinMeCleanin · 25/02/2013 13:26

She's 9 and yes, she should have done this herself, but she didn't. Most mornings she would have been told to cope with the smaller cosy and stop whining, this morning I needed to go to the PO anyway, she needed a new cosy anyway because she normally has 2, one for school and one for swimming trips at home. I thought I would be nice and pick up a new cosy while I was out.

She doesn't make her own lunch, she helps her younger sister get dressed and packed up for school instead. I normally do her lunch while I have a coffee and they eat breakfast.

Our Primark is fairly small, they don't sell swimming costumes or the hairbrushes that dd1 likes to use. All of these shops were on my out of the town after the PO.

Yes I realise she should have sorted this the night before but we are struggling a bit atm while my arm heals. By the time dd1 had gotten herself and dd2 bathed and dressed for bed it was half an hour past their usual bedtime.

OP posts:
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