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We live in a rural area and most department stores or larger retailers are at least 20+ miles from us so when we go shopping it's usually a half-day to an all-day adventure for us. Lots of those times my wife might want to go by a shoe store, a ladies clothing store, a craft store, or something that, well, I'm just not interested in. So, I sit in the car...I'll play on the babysitter (cell phone), listen to the radio some, and might even take a nap...I'm fine with it and happy for her to have her time "shopping". Well, everybody and their cousin has probably seen this cartoon...it came through on Facebook the other day. But, it hit so much home with me, I mean...I can see this happening, ya know! So at the risk of being redundant, boring, of wasting your time (I'm really not *that* worried about wasting your time ) I'm sharing it here.

Living in a rural area myself, those shopping trips can turn into full-blown adventures, especially when the nearest department store is a good 20+ miles away. I've had my fair share of "car-sitting" moments while my wife indulges in her shopping spree.

It's what we do.

what are you fellas doing sitting in the car when you're supposed to be carrying her shopping bags???

elaineo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 5:47 am what are you fellas doing sitting in the car when you're supposed to be carrying her shopping bags???

elaineo, elaineo... What do you think the primary use of cellphones are for? "Honey, I need you to come carry a couple of bags for me". You take off happily to go do the "husband thing" and when you get in the store there's enough bags waiting on you to give Santa Claus a hernia!!! As you're struggling down the sidewalk trying to look "husbandly" while you hear "things" popping and creaking in every joint from your ankles to your neck you hear someone say, "Should we help that old phart?"...."Nah, he's doing the "husband thing"", their companion responds with a chuckle and a shaking of his head. You look helplessly at them and struggle on down the sidewalk straining like Atlas holding the world up. As for shopping with her, uh, just how many shoes and dresses and ribbons and...well, anyway...just how many can you look at? Now, if she needs something from Lowes or Home Depot I'm right there with her!!!

The best use of the cell phone, though, is valet parking. She gets dropped off right in front of the store and when she's through shopping she calls the valet service (me), the car and chauffeur (me) drives up, loads the packages for her, and off we go. I just have to have the volume turned up really high on the phone in case I'm sleeping heavily! Some of my best naps have been in front of strip malls!!!

We do not shop much anymore. Too many nut cases out there. We order online, pull up and they load us up. The only good thing to come out of COVID, at store pickup. Prices are the same either way. I have 2 Lowes and 1 HomeDepot within 3 miles of me if I need them. Amazon gets some things here same day.

Yeah, we use the Wallyworld pickup for groceries, but that's about it. For some reason this made me remember the good old days when Toys-R-Us was still in business. It was always fun to go there on Christmas Eve buying stuff for the kids...I always came back and told my wife how many little old blue-haired ladies I ran over with the buggy! And now, here I am, dodging nutty, crazed women with gladiator buggies as I struggle to carry my wife's bulging shopping bags of what must be steel-toe boots!!! What goes'round, comes'round!!!

But, yes, curbside pickup is a good thing. But in my neck of the woods there's usually fine print on the different stores' websites that says, "Curbside Pickup Not Available At This Store". Wwwhhhhaaaattttttt????!!!!!

Btw, I was at a Wallyworld the other day and they must have had nine or ten "manned" checkout stations going, with several of the checkout people standing idle waiting for customers....the self-checkout stations were packed. Go figure, eh? Weird. Maybe the Wallyworld "powers that be" were running an experiment to see if they had succeeding in brainwashing the customers into preferring the self-checkouts over a human cashier. Again...it was weird seeing all those cashiers standing there. Maybe I was on the edge of....The Twilight Zone!!!!

What bothers me is why they put in 30 cash registers and only 1 or 2 are ever open.

Brainymyrt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 5:31 pm Living in a rural area myself, those shopping trips can turn into full-blown adventures, especially when the nearest department store is a good 20+ miles away. I've had my fair share of "car-sitting" moments while my wife indulges in her shopping spree.

But you know what? I've learned to make the most of it. While she's browsing through shoe stores and craft shops, I've mastered the art of entertainment in the car, like playing mobile games.
Funny you mention it; I recently stumbled upon a discussion: is temu safe. Got me thinking about exploring more convenient ways to shop, especially when I'm stuck playing the waiting game in the car.

andynorth wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 7:51 pm What bothers me is why they put in 30 cash registers and only 1 or 2 are ever open.

That's the norm and that's why my experience freaked me out! The only reason I can see for them putting in so many registers is to be prepared for things like Black Friday/Christmas. It was surreal checking out. If I hadn't of been in such a state of shock I would have asked the cashier why they had so many open checkout stations!

The production of most everything else in the marketplace, it seems these days, is CCP controlled and Temu is no different. I've heard negative things about the place, but I'm sure there are lots of happy buyers there. My family will not be shopping there, though. As for passing time while shopping with my wife, the best I've found to do is nap.

elaineo wrote:what are you fellas doing sitting in the car when you're supposed to be carrying her shopping bags???

Ommm…. Blasting my music and I’ll watch some South Park for awhile after that if it’s more than an hour. If it takes too long I might take something and tell her to drive


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