Christine the Curmudgeon

Tell me…does Christine the Curmudgeon have some sort of neon sign over her head that reads “WEIRDO MAGNET”?

Last night, the Mister and me went to dinner at TGI Friday’s…I had an $8.00 Stripes coupon that was about to expire, and we wanted to use it.

The place was packed for a Wednesday night, there was a wait for tables.  That was okay, though, as we always like to sit at the bar.  So we went into the bar area, and the only two empty seats were on either side of a rather trashy looking couple.  I asked them politely if they could scoot over one seat, so that there would be two seats together we could sit in.  They rudely refused.  Luckily for us, the couple sitting on the other side of one of the empty seats was just leaving, so we had a place to sit.

Hell, if someone comes into a bar and asks us to scoot over one seat, so they can sit together, we always oblige.  It’s just being nice, and we try not to be assholes about such things.

So we’re sitting there, eating our free chips & salsa that they give you for being a Stripes member, drinking our beers, waiting for our food to arrive.  Meanwhile, Trashy Couple has several plates of food in front of them, entrees all of it, as well as an uneaten plate of the free chips & salsa.  I found it very odd that two people would order that much food.

Then our food arrived…Mike had salmon pasta, and I had some of their yummie broccoli-cheese soup, and the chicken finger platter.  I don’t usually use the silverware to eat the chicken fingers and fries, I just pick them up with my fingers, dip into the honey-mustard sauce, and eat.  However, I did use the napkin that was wrapped around the silverware.

That was when the trashy woman, the one who rudely refused to scoot over so we could have the two seats together, taps me on the shoulder and asks if she can have my silverware.  WTF???  Why did she need more silverware, you can’t eat all that food with the same knife and fork?  And why didn’t she ask the bartender for more silverware if she needed it?  I found this to be very odd…just as odd as a stranger tapping my shoulder in a bar and asking me to look up a life insurance online quote on my cell phone.

I refused to let her have my silverware, partly because I was annoyed that she bothered me about it, and that she was rude to me whan I asked them nicely if they could please scoot over one.

Well, apparently this caused them to not be able to eat, because rather than ask the bartender for more silverware, she asked him to wrap up all the uneaten food for them to take home.  He took all of the plates except for the free chips & salsa, wrapped them up back in the kitchen, and came back with a bag full of to-go containers.  Then she demanded that he wrap up the free chips & salsa, too.

I didn’t see how much of a tip they left, as they paid with a credit card.  But I bet it was a cheap one.   Pain in the ass people always tend to be lousy tippers.

I hope that this TGI Friday’s is not their regular one, as I don’t remember seeing them there before.  And I hope never to again.  Obnoxious, weird people!

Sheesh, this is not rocket science.  Yet Christine the Curmudgeon keeps hearing people bitch and whine about how much the holidaze cost, how many gifts that people felt they were *forced* to buy, how many people they were *forced* to entertain.

If you honestly can’t afford to do all of this, take a page from former First Lady Nancy Reagan’s book, and JUST SAY NO.

NO.  A very simple little two-letter word, which, if said, can save you from all sorts of stress, mountains of debt, and the like.  If other people don’t like it, too bad.  Let THEM pay your bills for you…suggest that to them, maybe THAT will shut them up.

There are already enough expenses when it comes to just getting by.  Rent or mortgage payments come first, otherwise, you’ll have to live outside, and it’s really cold out there!  Then there are utilities, food, clothing, and transportation expenses.  And let’s not forget taxes, and perhaps some term life insurance, in case you croak, then whoever you leave behind won’t be stuck with all of your funeral bills and such.

But quitcherbitchin about how expensive the holidaze are, when most of the expense is you going to the maul to buy tons of plastic kiddie crap that will no doubt be sold at next summer’s yard sale, because the kids got bored with it.  And stupid knick-knacks for Aunt Tilly and Great-Grandma Bessie, who live in nursing homes, who you never see anyway, and have no use nor space for the stuff you send them, that you can’t afford anyway.

Can’t afford it?  Then JUST SAY NO.  We did.  And it’s been quite a liberating thing!  Try it sometime!

So Christine the Curmudgeon has been seeing many reminders in the media about how donations to charities like the Salvation Army are down, such as this one.  The main reason given is the bad economy, that many people who used to be able to give are now in need of charitable services.

Well, I can think of another reason, and I know it’s going to piss a lot of people off.  Yes, Christine the Curmudgeon is gong to lay some of the blame on obnoxious, bratty CHILDREN.

The fact is, I have been seeing fewer and fewer bell-ringers around over the past few years.  The reason, I found out, was that some stores, such as Target, have adopted blanket policies that prohibit ANYONE from doing any form of solicitation in front of their stores, as they claim it is off-putting to their customers.

And this is where the obnoxious bratty children come in.  I see them outside of some stores, with their cans, collecting money for their school sports teams or other unnecessary crap.  Sometimes they are selling candy that can be had for a third of the price inside the store.  Most of these kids look pretty well-heeled, their parents are pushing their younger siblings around in pricey Baby jogger city select strollers, surely, they can afford to pick up the cost of their kids’ sports activities.

On principle, I don’t give to these kids, nor do I buy anything.  I pay enough in taxes for schools that I don’t even use.  Hell, the town I live in is spending $16 million to renovate the high school, yet I still have to pay to have my garbage collected, when this service was once included in our tax payments.  So why should I give them anything?  Seriously.

The problem arises when people refuse to give, or buy the overpriced Reese’s cups or M&Ms.  More often than not, these kids hurl verbal abuse at those who do not open their wallets to them.  It has become so much of a problem that some stores felt the need to not allow ANYONE to solicit for ANYTHING.  If they allow the Salvation Army bell-ringers, then the kids’ sports team parents will start whining about being discriminated against.  So, as not to have to deal with that crap, Target and other stores had to adopt this policy.

The bell-ringers, I do give to.  I may not agree with all the religious stuff about the Salvation Army, but they do good work, helping people in need.  And I can tell you that I have yet to hear a bell-ringer hurl verbal abuse at people who walk by and do not donate.  If they did start doing that, I would stop giving to them, as well.  I refuse to be bullied, intimidated, into donating anything to anybody.  I only do it if I truly WANT to.

I truly hope that the families of these spoiled brats never find themselves in need of help from the Salvation Army or other such charity.  I just wish they’d be aware that their aggressive fund-raising techniques have hurt these charities, and there is not enough now to help everyone who needs assistance.

So, please…if you can possibly afford it, the next time you do see a bell ringer, drop some change or a few bucks into their bucket.  Someday, YOU might need them to help YOU!

Christine the Curmudgeon knows, she’s done it for way too long.  But sometimes, you just need a job, and that’s all you can get.

Well, I am here to tell you that there IS an escape.  Consider enrolling in an online university. A school like Western Governors University lets you study in the peace and quiet of your own home. They offer many great online degree programs, surely one of them will be the right fit for you!

But, Christine the Curmudgeon, you may say…my retail job pays crap, no way can I afford to further my education.  Well, yes, you CAN!  Online learning tends to be less expensive in general, but Western Governors University is surprisingly affordable.  And there is still financial aid for those who qualify…yeah, I’m talking to YOU!

Stupidity abounds in the world today, if it didn’t, this blog would not have to exist.  Do you REALLY want to spend the rest of your life working at Shaw’s supermarket, with co-workers who are too dumb to understand Produce Identification 101?  Do you want to have to put up with teen bimbo cashiers who are offended by the sight of a customer’s pork loin roast, look at it as if it were a dead rat, and then refuse to touch it?  Yes, this happened to me last night, and no, it wasn’t leaking out pork juices or anything.  This person just had issues, and no one should have to deal with her, be it working with her, or being waited on by her.  If pork is so offensive to her, she should be smart enough to quit Shaw’s and take a job at either a Kosher or vegetarian food store.

Or, if she had two brain cells to rub together, she could opt to get some more education, maybe in Business Administration, where she will learn that hiring people like her are NOT good business after all, and perhaps we can get a better grade of supermarket cashiers.

We can always hope!

So Christine the Curmudgeon was watching Rachael Ray this morning.  One of the guests was this woman who was a child development specialist of some sort, and the discussion was about kids being bratty, especially around the holidaze.  This woman said that one of the reasons a lot of kids are so spoiled and bratty is because the parents are too busy working and stuff to spend time with them.  So they buy them lots of expensive crap out of guilt, and hesitate to punish them for being brats, for the same reason.

Anyhoo, this reminded me of something I read shortly after Rach married that John Cusimano dude.  The gist of it is HERE.

I don’t have time. I work too much to be an appropriate parent. I feel like a bad mom to my dog some days because I’m just not here enough. I just feel like I would do a bad job if I actually took the time to literally give birth to a kid right now and try and juggle everything I’m doing.

I remember she took a lot of crap for her choice.  Even in the blog that I linked to, there’s a lot of wank over her decision.  But WHY?  What does it matter to other people what she does with her life?  And it’s not as if we have a shortage or people on this planet, the human race will NOT become extinct because Rachael Ray chose not to procreate.

Sure, she’s busy…she has several TV shows, a magazine, and all of those cookbooks, most of which are in my own collection.  But hey, she also has a squillion dollars and is earning more every day…surely she could hire a nanny, hey, how about a whole army of nannies, right?

Maybe other celebs do this, but Rachael obviously feels that if she’s gonna have a kid, she should be around to actually raise it.  Nothing wrong with that!

It just pisses me off that she even was made to feel that she had to justify her choice to be child-free.  As far as I’m concerned, “I don’t like the little buggers” is as good a reason as any.  It’s simply none of anyone else’s business, it  should only be between her and her husband, so people need to put a sock in it.  Let’s take a stand to Free People From Society’s Expectations, and as long as no one is committing crimes or otherwise causing harm…live and let live already!