Today was an interesting but very irritating day. Dad and I decided to go to Walmart this morning to prepare for the incoming cold weather later in the week. I want to be stocked up on water, bread, milk…you know, the usual…for the cold winter months. Today it was pretty busy but it could have been worse… like the very day before an incoming storm. Holy crap. People think it’s going to be the end of the world if they don’t have bread and milk…wait, I just bought those didn’t I? Well, in my defense, we didn’t wait until the last minute to go out for supplies like other people do!

The drive (30 miles) was rather amusing, with Dad’s silly antics and questions like, “I wonder how many cows there are in the world?” and “I wonder if birds can fly upside down?” The latter acted out as if he were a bird flying…”Look at me! I’m upside down!” Like I said, amusing. Never a dull moment.

So, anyway Dad wanted to stop at the clinic to make an appointment to see a dentist. He’s been having trouble with his gums. He went in and I waited in the car. He came out surprisingly, with an appointment for this afternoon at 1:45. We had enough time to go to Walmart so we headed over to do the evil chore of shopping with the numerous rude morons that frequent that place. Hey, wait a sec… I frequent that store, too. But I’m not rude to anyone unless they’re rude to me and I’m definitely not a moron.

Thankfully, they had a scooter and I was able to get around the store without excruciating pain. Of course, there were always ‘pains’ lurking in the middle of the aisle or at the end of the aisle who were so oblivious to anyone or anything around them that I was forced to go around to the other end of several aisles, just to get what I wanted. I think that sort of ‘pain’ is inevitable in Walmart. I shudder to think what it’s like in Kmart!!

At the checkout line, I thought, what good timing to have found a checker with no one in her line! Ha. Lucky, my ass. That woman talked her damn fool head off and NOT to US, mind you. She was chatting with another woman behind her and wasn’t working very fast – in fact, she seemed to not be able to scan items and talk at the same time. She just wouldn’t stop yammering on. I had to say something. I admit it. I was rude. I said, “Can you work a little more and talk a little less?” She didn’t even freakin’ hear me! OMG. She kept talking, scanned a few items, started talking some more… She said to the other woman something about how her mom said blah, blah, blah… She actually said blah, blah, blah! So, what did I say? I said, “Yeah. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!” She was oblivious. I was pretty irate if you can imagine. When she was finally finished scanning and bagging, I asked, “What bag did you put the batteries in?” We needed some small button batteries of various sizes and I didn’t want them lost. That woman, her name was Judy, just kept on talking. So, I asked my question again just a little louder. She still didn’t hear me so I freakin’ raised my voice that may have been a holler, I don’t know. The whole time Dad was looking for the batteries. She heard me that time and found the batteries. I thanked her, I don’t know why. Maybe for such a swell time. Ha.

We still had time to kill before we went to Dad’s appointment, so we stopped at the library. I had to use the restroom so that’s where I went first. I swear. You will NOT believe this but when I went to wash my hands all of a sudden there was such a foul stench of sewer. Yes, you read that right. SEWER. I scooped up a little water and brought it up close to my nose. OMG. That stench was coming from the water! I dried my hands off and used hand sanitizer, not once but twice. When Dad used the restroom he said the same thing. Tomorrow I’m calling the Health Department.

At the clinic now for Dad’s dental appointment. He was pretty stressed to begin with but then the paperwork frustrated him even more. You know, all those questions they want you to write answers to but then when they call you back they ask the same damn thing so they can put it in the computerized files. I always tell them, “It’s on the papers I just filled out!” Dad’s too nice. He endures. When he came back out he said they were putting him on an antibiotic and sending him to a periodontist. Yay. That made him happy. NOT. His blood pressure was still high when we got home. Tomorrow he calls for an appointment.

At my age and with my chronic pain issues, I don’t have the patience for the bullshit we had to deal with today. From now on, I’m taking down names at Walmart. The good ones will be praised to the management and the bad ones? Well, use your imagination!