Open Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Many of the folks in Abingdon have been good this year (except those nasty speeders!) So could you please find it in your heart to consider some of the items on this list?

These are in no particular order, and we will take any and all if available.

1. A decent restaurant in the Wal-Mart/Target shopping center. We love our fast food here, but it would be nice to have a spot with actual knives and forks and wait staff close-by. Sorry Santa, Country Kitchen doesn't count.

2. Speed bumps. I've been asking for these and so far no one cares. Or how about a stop sign? I've been told that slowing traffic is an illegal usage of stop signs, but maybe you could bend some rules?

3. More trees. If not more trees, can you stop all the cutting? I really never appreciated those trees by the WaWa on 924 until cutting them down created the ugliest corner around.

4. A new pharmacy. This is a joke Santa! Why would we need another pharmacy here! Oh wait, a new one's being built near Bright Oaks Drive. That's not funny, Santa.

5. More money for the library. You know that we love our library here. Maybe you could send them some new books, or at least some more copies of Sue Grafton's new book because I'm very low on the reserved list for that one.

6. An elected school board. I don't know, Santa, maybe it wouldn't make a difference at all, but I'd really like my voice to be heard and listened to. Maybe the threat of defeat might make these people more receptive to community voices.

7. A choice. I've got a few years, but if the middle/high schools in my area continue to fail so miserably on the MSA scores, could you send me a voucher so that my kids can attend a school where the county cares more about the students?

8. Pedestrian walkways. I would love to be able to walk to Target or Wal-Mart, but let's face it, it's too dangerous for me. How could I cross the road once I got there anyway? Can you help the wise transportation department think about pedestrians in its plans?

9. Whatever the Anita Leight Estuary Center wants. I'm not sure what that is, but they're great, so please send whatever they need.

10. A great 2008 for TAA readers and other area bloggers. And maybe some more blog readers for 2008, too!

Thanks, Santa. If it doesn't all fit under the tree, maybe you could put some of it in the many storage facilities located nearby!

Back to Normal at Wal-Mart

Being mad at the Constant Friendship Target about the Wii fiasco has thrown off my whole week. I've been trying to branch out to other venues, but now I remember why I was so faithful in the first place.
This a.m. after I put the kids on the bus I ran over to Wal-Mart because I needed to get a birthday present for a party my daughter is attending this weekend. I parked close to the door and believed this was a good sign.
Shopping is much more pleasant since the remodel. The aisles are wider, it's easier to find things. It looks cleaner.
I was even humming a Christmas carol when I lined up at the register.
That's when it started.
I was in a long line. 3 registers were open. A cashier zipped behind me and helpfully told the elderly people at the back of the line she would help them next. This is a pet peeve of mine. Customer service at people at Wal-Mart never speak to me, because I don't fit the elderly demographic. Which, now that I think about it, kind of makes me happy. This happened 3 times while I was in line, but I thought I'd stick it out in my line because I was already committed. 15 minutes later, my goods were being checked out, but wait, the main purpose of the trip, a lovely Sleeping Beauty Disney Princess, was not in the system. It would not ring up. The cashier called the toy department. Nobody called back. She called again. Nobody called back. She called a manager, who ambled over and took the doll to customer service. Customer service couldn't find it the number and spent a lot of time examining the box. This wasn't an obscure item. It was a Disney Princess. They called the toy department. 20 minutes later, they decided to manually input the price.
Then I made the mistake of asking for a gift receipt.
This proved impossible! They couldn't do that! So I said Enough. You got me. I've got to get out of here. I thanked the very patient lady behind me and the cashier. The manager was mean to her. It wasn't her fault.
The woman behind me mentioned the Wal-Mart commercials where all the cashiers are playing Christmas music with their register lights. She summed it up best, "I guess they didn't see that commercial here."

A Wal-Mart Surprise

Usually I'm not a fan of the Constant Friendship Wal-Mart. Too difficult to park, too crowded, too dirty. But I must say, my trip today wasn't terrible. Which is a vast improvement over many of my visits.
In case you haven't stopped by in the last month, they've completely remodeled the clothing sections. They've widened the aisles, posted better signage and added more clothing options. It's also much cleaner.
The staff is still working on the food and pharmacy section, which made it too difficult to really see what they were adding. But I did manage to note a larger refrigerated section with more frozen/refrigerated foods. Also added were at least several more aisles of dried and canned goods.
And just in time for Christmas, they've enlarged the toy section, which is now in the back of the store. I was always surprised at how small the previous toy selection was, so they seem to have remedied this.
It will still take more to get me away from Target, but it's encouraging that they're trying to improve.