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I don't believe it!


taxi4ballet

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Yesterday morning, during my visit to Tesco the peace was rudely shattered at the checkout by the screaming and general carrying-on of a tiny tot in the middle of a full-blown no-holds-barred tantrum.

 

Looking round I saw a little girl of not much more tha a year old, who was blue in the face and yelling, pointing and reaching out for what she wanted so desperately. It was a can of Red Bull her mum was drinking (why anyone feels the need to drink that much caffeine at 10am on a Tuesday is beyond me, but I digress).

 

Anyhow I concluded my transaction and made my way to the car, passing by this family in the car park.

 

I couldn't believe my eyes: the mum had given the can of Red Bull to the baby so she could drink it.

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That`s just dreadful. My 15 year old son and his mates sometimes get themselves these energy drinks. I`m not happy about it at all,but tell him as long as it`s in moderation then alright. [better that than alcohol anyway. ] But to give even a sip of it to a small child is just appalling. Makes you wonder what planet some people live on.

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This, I think, is part of the larger picture of seeking to fix life through medication. It's not a new thing. Humans have sought to use all sorts of external chemicals whether its herbs, leaves, liquids, whatever - to change their reality. From sweat houses to aromatics, from the natural to the synthetic, from the addictive to the casual - we all seek cure or seek insensibility or release or heightened perception through external chemical means.

 

It is appalling that a parent would give an energy booster to a child. One would hope that a parent would know better - but its really all part of a life long habit for as long as there have been humans.

 

I had a garden full of drunk birds who had been feasting on over ripened berries. They were trying to maintain their balance on my clothes line, and fluttering to the ground, staggering around and chirping happily. I brought the overjoyed cat inside - I didn't think it was fair to leave her out. She was outraged at me and never completely forgave me.

Edited by Anjuli_Bai
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Anjuli, I do love the mental picture your posting brings up - little birds falling off the washing line and stagggering around looking happy! I do hope you had the good sense to leave them a large water-dish filled with soluble alka-selzer for the morning after.....

 

Unfortunately, I did not - I was too busy keeping track of that terribly upset cat. She thought we were friends (I had her for 19 yrs) and here I go and spoil a perfectly wonderful once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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Reminds me of when DD was 5 months old and we visited her Godfather in Brussels. Both families went out on a day trip to Bruges and stopped for a delicious lunch. I was drinking local lager from a lovely glass goblet - baby DD kept reaching for it, so the consensus was, let her have a sip, she'll hate it and then stop. It backfired, she loved it! Oops! But no she hasn't turned into an alcoholic. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just thinking about the childs tantrum reminds me of when my children were younger and behaved in that way (must be a Tesco's thing).

 

I was fortunate that one our neighbours was the store manager and if she ever saw my two acting up she would send the security guard over to ask if there was a problem in his very stern voice (a lovely man who was a retired university lecturer). Worked every time, my two would be terrified that they were about to be banned from the store that they would instantly behave. They also would apologise to the security guard on our way out of the store - he and my neighbour always gave me a wink and nod.

 

It was our little secret - my husband always wondered why I always insisted on going to the same store - it was simply because I didn't have 'contacts' in the other ones. Still have never told my children and they're now 13 and 8. he he

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We were in Tescos on Tuesday and a kid of about three was screaming down the walls. It went on and on. It was obviously a temper tantrum. We went past the mother, toddler and fed up sister and I saw the mother shrug at me and then say " Do you want to go and get it then?" as she lifted the spoiled brat out of the trolley! My chin hit the ground and you should have seen the look of triumph on the boy's face! He is going to be a dreadful child :(

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Sometimes I feel like having a tantrum in Tesco's myself!

 

My local Tesco's has been known by us as "the hellhole" ever since it was extended.  Not only is it way too big, but the "improvements" they've made means that the store is now totally impervious to mobile signals.  So if you want to ring home and ask whether we've got enough X in the cupboards, or what people want for supper, you can't!  Or you can, but you'd have to abandon the trolley and walk outside to do so.

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I have the same problem with lack of a phone signal in my local Sainsbury's and have had to go right by the door to ring home to check if I needed something, hoping that the security guard doesn't think that I'm about to do a runner with my trolley.

 

After this same store had it's first extension we now have a slope in the ailses so if you let go of your trolley to turn and look at an item/check use by dates, your trolley is off, banging into people and other trolleys!

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I really do dislike (hate) those huge stores.  They might have a vast inventorry but it invariably is along the far wall which isn't even visible due to the curvature of the earth.  They are doubly blessed by employees who haven't a clue where anything is.  When I need to ask a question i try to find the oldest employee - the youngsters are too busy saying "no problem" without even a notion to what the problem is. 

 

I usually bring my own shopping bags which I made many years ago from tough denim.  I can't count the times the checkout clerk has tried to find the bags in the store's data base so she/he will know how much to charge me for them.  When I try to explain that they are my bags - I made them - chaos sets in -they don't have a computer button for that.

 

At that point the clerk once again explains to me that he/she can't find a price for these bags and would I then show them where in the store I found them.  Only now the clerk is speaking much slower so my addled brain will have a chance to keep up.  So, I figure a story time explanation may help and it goes something like this:

 

  "Once upon a time in 1968 - long before your  father had met your mother, I sewed up these bags for continuous use from that fateful day to this. I did it because it is environmentally friendly."   

 

Now this really amazes them - that the concern about the environment precedes the date of their birth.  Will wonders never cease?

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 "They are doubly blessed by employees who haven't a clue where anything is.  When I need to ask a question i try to find the oldest employee - the youngsters are too busy saying "no problem" without even a notion to what the problem is". 

 

That's interesting.   We're not big on customer service here in England but the staff in quite a few of the large stores are trained to interrupt their work (unless they're on a till) and escort the customer to the product. 

Edited by Grand Tier Left
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It does depend upon the store.  One store chain has a system of phones scattered around the store so a customer can ask a question or request assistence at which time an employee will come to where the phone is located to help.  But, that doesn't mean the employee knows where the item is or that the employee speaks/understands English (ok - American English) well enough.

 

And, then, I end up walking along with the employee up and down aisle after long aisle. 

 

Sometimes I go in looking for one small item so I don't bother getting a shopping cart.  However, upon seeing a sale of something I need which does necessitate a cart, it means walking back to the store entrance - often quite a good distance to procure a cart.

 

I don't know what the answer is except I think the size of the stores has outgrown the humans who are using it. 

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Try again! A contortionist might envy her. She must live in the only street there with a bad signal and my eldest is about to move in with her! I'll never hear from them again :(

 

I know the feeling.  You know all these coverage maps the various companies put out?  Well, I'm just about okay on the mobile unless I walk through the centre of the flat, but when it came to mobile broadband I tried Vodafone first of all, only to find two pale pink splodges on the map among the red ones: precisely where my home is and where my alternative working space is.  Hanging out of the window may be doable for a phone, but not when a computer is involved!  And it's little better on T-Mobile, although I can at least get a signal inside the building.

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Alison, I can empathise with you re the coverage. I live not far outside a major city at the top of a hill. My mobile will only work if I stand in my dining room with one hand on the metal frame of my french doors - yes I'm using myself as a booster for the signal!! When I look at the coverage on providers maps we tend to be at the centre of the blank doughnut which circles our house i.e. little or no coverage available!

 

And it's not just mobiles we have problems with - we're too far from the BT exchange to get a broadband speed above 0.5mb (we did celebrate when we managed to ditch dial up only 18 months ago!!!); we are ABOVE the old analogue transmitters for TV so never even bothered to install an aerial; no cable company will extend it's coverage as far up the hill as we are; and my sky dish has to be re-aligned at least once every 6 months as every time the winds get above 70 mph we get the lovely 'no signal' blue screen!!

 

Needless to say we read a lot of books in our house.

 

You may wonder why we bought the house - yes, it was the view!

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