Brain-Deads 'R Us

This morning was taken up with a crack-of-dawn trip to a famous toy store in Times Square where it's nearly impossible to move around because people stop in the middle of the aisles to have lengthy conversations with their children about why they can't have the Bling Bling Booty Shaker Barbie. Or they stop at the top of the escalator to marvel at the life size, animated T Rex... and block the way for everyone coming off the escalator. Or they have HUGE arguments in front of the entire world about which lightsaber to buy which kid, full of tears, recriminations, and "You don't love him if you think he wants the blue one!" Ah, it's Christmas time in the city. It doesn't help that the store is staffed by the walking undead who could be outsmarted, outrun, and outcharmed by the zombies in Shaun of the Dead. Okay, maybe too much hyperbole... but only a bit. I thought I was being charged $40 for something marked $20, but it turned out that someone had put the wrong sign on the rack. The BF got charged twice for the most expensive item on his list as well as two other smaller items. In each case the reaction of the clerk was: big sigh... "Hey, Dan!" ..long pause... "Dan!" ..another long pause, bigger sigh... "Dan! Shawna! One of you!" at which point Dan looks over, does something (I don't know what) and finally comes over where the clerk explains "He got charged twice for this." which sounds like it's somehow my fault, not hers. Dan looks suitably annoyed at me, not Jannel, my clerk, sticks his key in the register, hits a button, and walks away with key. Then Jannel says, "$52.87" Whatever! I'm just glad I don't have kids of my own and so I don't have to go to this store all that often.