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I Hate My Safeway.
Apr. 27th, 2011 05:17 pmOkay, to be more specific - since my five year old gets upset if I mention hating something - I have had many bad experiences at the Safeway closest to my house that have left me feeling frustrated, angry, annoyed, helpless and inconvenienced. Now some of it is me and how I process conflict - I get that.
Today, for example: I went to the bakery section and since I had all three kids in tow, when the bakery guy turned his attention on me I told him the kids wanted a cookie. Well, he proceeded to look serious and to tell me I'd broken two of his rules about cookies (what now?, I know I have very poor perception of humor sometimes, so my best guess at that point is he was making a joke I just wasn't getting). He went on to explain one of his rules - "kids must ask for their own cookie" - before I interrupted.
Time out here for a second - for the benefit of any of my readers without young children, I'd like to explain how all of this is supposed to work. A few years back all the grocery stores around here made a big deal about how to make your shopping experience nicer they would happily give your kid a free cookie, just stop by the bakery section and ask - this lets them draw you into their store and gets your kids eating and liking their cookies, cute gimmick, right?
Okay then, after hearing the guy's first rule I said, "fine my kids can ask", and told them, "go ahead guys." Well S and C were game, but by this time H was ready to cry and didn't want to ask. When the guy didn't pick up on her discomfort (and still hadn't produced any cookies) I interrupted, again, and told him forget it, we didn't need any cookies and we'd be on our way.
He insisted he'd give us cookies, he just wanted her to ask. I told him she didn't need to ask and obviously she was upset and give it a rest already. He hauled out the cookies at this point, but when he gave one to H he gave her some speech about not meaning to hurt her feeling, but all she had to do was ask next time.
He told me that all he was trying to do was teach kids to speak up for themselves and be more independent. WTF? I'd really had it at this point. I even used his name when I explained to him that it was not his job to try to train other people's kids.
I think I handled the situation well, but I was still fuming when we left the bakery section. I couldn't put it behind me - I don't like conflict, but that guy would just not back down. I also always feel a little weird asking for free stuff, so feeling like I'd broken rules, or done something wrong in addition to my natural discomfort with the whole process left me feeling rotten.
The rules around bakeries are inconsistent at best. Some ladies insist on handing the cookie to the parent, some wont let your kid have the cookie without getting your okay first, some won't even let your kid have the cookies unless you ask. This insisting the kids ask thing was completely created by this one guy, and not store policy.
I ended up complaining to customer service, to try to get it out of my system - and I was so upset I ended up crying while relating my story to the very nice lady (customer service there has always been exemplary, and I've had lots of opportunities to find out). I hate when I do that, because I know I won't be taken seriously, but when I'm very frustrated I sometimes can't stop the tears.
Where this is partly me - someone else might have had no issue with the bakers behavior, and even if they did would have left the conflict in the bakery section. I know part of my problem is not being able to let go of the negative emotions. I repeat and process everything over and over. But the whole get a free cookie gimmick is supposed to make your shopping experience more pleasant, not something that requires hoop jumping and lessons and serious men talking about rule breaking.
Oh well.
The worst part is this is the closest Safeway by a lot of miles. If someone else could make roles and sourdough bread like they can, I think I'd just never shop at a Safeway again.
Today, for example: I went to the bakery section and since I had all three kids in tow, when the bakery guy turned his attention on me I told him the kids wanted a cookie. Well, he proceeded to look serious and to tell me I'd broken two of his rules about cookies (what now?, I know I have very poor perception of humor sometimes, so my best guess at that point is he was making a joke I just wasn't getting). He went on to explain one of his rules - "kids must ask for their own cookie" - before I interrupted.
Time out here for a second - for the benefit of any of my readers without young children, I'd like to explain how all of this is supposed to work. A few years back all the grocery stores around here made a big deal about how to make your shopping experience nicer they would happily give your kid a free cookie, just stop by the bakery section and ask - this lets them draw you into their store and gets your kids eating and liking their cookies, cute gimmick, right?
Okay then, after hearing the guy's first rule I said, "fine my kids can ask", and told them, "go ahead guys." Well S and C were game, but by this time H was ready to cry and didn't want to ask. When the guy didn't pick up on her discomfort (and still hadn't produced any cookies) I interrupted, again, and told him forget it, we didn't need any cookies and we'd be on our way.
He insisted he'd give us cookies, he just wanted her to ask. I told him she didn't need to ask and obviously she was upset and give it a rest already. He hauled out the cookies at this point, but when he gave one to H he gave her some speech about not meaning to hurt her feeling, but all she had to do was ask next time.
He told me that all he was trying to do was teach kids to speak up for themselves and be more independent. WTF? I'd really had it at this point. I even used his name when I explained to him that it was not his job to try to train other people's kids.
I think I handled the situation well, but I was still fuming when we left the bakery section. I couldn't put it behind me - I don't like conflict, but that guy would just not back down. I also always feel a little weird asking for free stuff, so feeling like I'd broken rules, or done something wrong in addition to my natural discomfort with the whole process left me feeling rotten.
The rules around bakeries are inconsistent at best. Some ladies insist on handing the cookie to the parent, some wont let your kid have the cookie without getting your okay first, some won't even let your kid have the cookies unless you ask. This insisting the kids ask thing was completely created by this one guy, and not store policy.
I ended up complaining to customer service, to try to get it out of my system - and I was so upset I ended up crying while relating my story to the very nice lady (customer service there has always been exemplary, and I've had lots of opportunities to find out). I hate when I do that, because I know I won't be taken seriously, but when I'm very frustrated I sometimes can't stop the tears.
Where this is partly me - someone else might have had no issue with the bakers behavior, and even if they did would have left the conflict in the bakery section. I know part of my problem is not being able to let go of the negative emotions. I repeat and process everything over and over. But the whole get a free cookie gimmick is supposed to make your shopping experience more pleasant, not something that requires hoop jumping and lessons and serious men talking about rule breaking.
Oh well.
The worst part is this is the closest Safeway by a lot of miles. If someone else could make roles and sourdough bread like they can, I think I'd just never shop at a Safeway again.
