Saturday, January 14, 2006

The Joys of Costco (and the not-so-joyful)

I went to Costco today because my sweetie needed a giant bag of potatoes in order to make a giant tub of mashed potatoes for a nephew’s birthday party we are going to. Costco is a popular place, evidenced by the crowds that throng to it on the weekends. There’s a lot to like about this place… as well as a lot of annoyances.

Likes

  • Nice wide parking spots in their expansive lot
  • Nice big shopping carts that handle well for their size
  • Lots of free samples of their various food products
  • Their cafeteria has this amazing ice cream bar—hand dipped and rolled in almonds—Mmmmmmm...
  • Something for everyone to enjoy browsing—I can stare wistfully at electronics while my sweetheart drools over jewelry
  • Their awesome return policy—I once returned some blank CDs, a third of which were already gone, the label had fallen off, and the cylindrical case was missing!

Dislikes
  • Why do you need to show your stupid membership card when you can’t by a single thing without giving it to the cashier?
  • They only credit card they accept is American Express
  • The flocks of human vultures that circle the free food samples
  • The endless crowds that flow through its doors, half of which think parking their cart in the middle of the aisle is a good thing
  • When they run out of one of their regular items and I just think they moved it so I circle the aisles three times looking for it, thus tripling the time it takes for me to get out of there
  • Their business hours aren’t as long as I would like
As a side-note, I did a nice thing at Costco today. Minor, but I believe in being nice whenever the opportunity presents itself, no matter how insignificant. After paying for my potatoes the lady asked me if I would need my cart. I looked at my 20-pound bag of spuds. Well that’s inconvenient, they normally don’t ask that. So I figured they needed it for something. Ok, I can handle this without a cart, let them have it. She proceeded to take the cart and string one of those “This Lane is Closed” wires through it to block the way. I guess walking out the exit and getting a cart from outside was too much trouble. Apparently it was much better to inconvenience a customer instead. But that’s ok, I volunteered, I was giving them a break.

They put my potatoes and butter into a box and I carry it away. So here I am with 20 pounds of potatoes plus 4 pounds of butter. 24 pounds doesn’t sound like much at all, or so I thought. I had parked aaaaaaall the way on the opposite end of the lot because it was really crowded and walking was good for me. So I lugged my 24 pounds of future mashed taters across the lot to my car. By the time I get there my arms are in pain. And I am greatly dismayed. Carrying 24 pounds across a Costco parking lot should not have affected me like that. I am terribly out of shape. I need to start exercising again. Wish me luck.

Posted by Geeky Dragon Girl on 01/14 at 08:20 PM
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Categories: • Grrrrrr...