Assorted Rants on A Tuesday
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
This place is supposed to be my "outlet" - so to speak...so I'm outing.
I am having a mini meltdown. It might be because I'm pregnant. It's entirely possible. I mean, I did cry after being yelled at by the director of sales and marketing at Searle NYC. And he was unquestionably a total jackass on the phone - BUT. I'm not so sure it warranted tears. That said, I'm confused about the incident because I wouldn't say I've been overly emotional in the past five months. Or perhaps I've just lost all perspective, gone entirely insane and I've actually been a total nut case. Clearly I've lost my ability for self-awareness.
Why did this person yell at me, you ask? That's a great question and one I will gladly answer. You see, I purchased a pair of boots from the Searle NYC website a few weeks ago. I had been eyeing them and I was in desperate need of a new pair of black boots. These were exactly what I had been looking for, so I decided to order them. I have become quite the promo code sleuth and when I found one for 20% off, I ordered them PRONTO. I love a good bargain (as you know given my proclivity toward Jewish tourettes.) The boots came and were not quite what I had in mind - they were slouchy, and I was looking for good old fashioned straight up and down boots. When I looked on the site, I noticed they had the SAME EXACT style at what was considered 3/4 height. The reason they slouched was because I am short and so there was too much boot for them to stand up straight on my legs. So I saw 3/4 and figured they'd be perfect. I sent away for an exchange. I'd been told that I'd receive an email letting me know when the boots had been received and when my new ones went out. They received the boots I was returning on 10/21. I know this from my UPS tracking number - not because the company emailed me as they had promised. I emailed them 5 days later to check in and still heard nothing. So I called to find out where the hell my boots were and also to tell them that, at this point, I didn't really want the boots anymore. Last Thursday I received an email from the director of sales and marketing telling me they'd already sent out my boots 2 day mail and he'd send me the tracking number (which, by the by, he never did.) The boots arrived yesterday. The boots do not fit over my pregnant calves. Not even close. Oh well...I tried. I emailed the director this morning for a return authorization code. The slip in the box was marked final sale, which I knew must have been a mistake since I would NEVER purchase final sale shoes that I hadn't tried on. N.E.V.E.R.
The response I got was the following:
Michelle,
Of course, I went IMMEDIATELY to the website to find this statement. I berated myself the entire time. HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO FOOLISH?!?!?? What the hell was I thinking? It was no bargain if I couldn't return the freaking shoes! And what's a pregnant lady going to buy in a clothing store (especially when that money should be put toward other boots or saved for her unborn child?) I continued to yell at myself in my own head until I arrived at the Searle website and saw the following written clearly at the bottom of the check out page:
All sale merchandise can be exchanged for merchandise of equal or greater value.
Ok. Fine. Sale Merchandise is not the same as items purchased at a discount. Not at ALLLLLL. I stopped yelling at myself and called the gentleman who had responded to me above. I went in with a smile on my face, knowing I would get further if I started out the interaction being nice.
"Hi Rick, this is Michelle. I just received your email and I wanted to chat with you."
"Uh huh."
"Well, I took a look at your website. And while it states clearly that sale items can only be exchanged, it doesn't make mention of promo..."
"MICHELLE!" he interrupted me, "You can't return them. You used a promo code, you bought an item on sale. You are welcome to exchange the shoes."
"Well, I actually didn't buy an item on sale. I used a promo code to get a discount on an item. There's a diff..."
"MICHELLE!" he raised his voice to me again, "You're talking semantics here. There's no difference. I've never had a problem with this before."
"Yes Rick. We are talking semantics. But when you're writing something on your site, then semantics are actually important. And to be honest, I called you being perfectly pleasant, wanting to discuss the matter with you, and now you are raising your voice to me and actually being quite rude."
Which is, indeed, what happened. I called this man, wanting to have a conversation, and he literally jumped down my throat. He snapped back at me when I told him he was being rude and told me, once again, that I was talking semantics. That seemed to be his only go-to defense.I told him that I would be happy to contest the charge on my credit card and happy to speak to a lawyer (not that I would hire one, by the way, but my best friend is a lawyer and a damn fine one who would let me know if I had a leg to stand on, but it did seem to me that legalese is all ABOUT semantics so his argument could be used directly against him...) He told me to go right ahead. I asked to speak with someone above me. He told me there WASN'T anyone above him. I got off the phone.
And started to cry.
WHAT THE HELL!?!? Listen, I may have been wrong...but there was absolutely NO REASON (especially if I WAS wrong) that this douchebag should be raising his voice to me! In fact, if it was clear and concise on the website, I would imagine that he would have kindly directed me to the page where I could find the information that I had missed when I bought the merchandise and showed me my mistake. Instead, he tore into me...WHO TAUGHT HIM ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE????
I'm still working on this. I called the corporate office and got the name of the owner of the company who I tried to get in touch with for a couple of days and after not being able to reach her directly, I wrote her a damn good letter which I faxed off this morning. And look, I might not get a refund...but no one, NO ONE, especially in customer service, should be speaking to a customer that way. And I want someone to know that's how I was treated by their director of marketing and sales. And I'd also like my money back.
I mean...am I nuts? Do any of you think of a promo code as being an item on sale??? Please. Feel free to tell me that I'm wrong.
Then there's the fact that people seem to think that it's ok to tell you how big/swollen/fat you look when you're pregnant. The fat comment was meant as a joke (I think?!?) but it still wasn't ok. Trust me...I spend a lot of time every day reminding myself that my body is beautiful as it becomes increasingly difficult for me to bend over to pick something up. I don't even want to get into how it feels to roll to my other side in the middle of the night (but I will say that if someone invented a device that would do all the work and get me from my left to my right and back again every few hours or so, I would pay a LOT of money for it.) I know people think that when you're pregnant you KNOW you're going to get bigger so it's OK for them to say, "WOW! You got bigger overnight!" And they literally mean overnight when you are away for a wedding weekend. And for the record, this was NOT one of the times that I had actually grown overnight. Trust me - if anyone notices when I grow overnight, it's me. I especially love the people who haven't see you and say, "WOW! Look at your stomach." Yes, look at my stomach - it's big. BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT.
What's interesting is the number of absolute strangers I've had telling me how beautiful I look. I went to Bloomingdales on Saturday and I left feeling like I was on cloud 9. Everywhere I went, in the parking garage waiting for the elevator, at the makeup counter returning something, at the Jo Malone counter buying something, on the escalator up...people kept telling me that I was an adorable pregnant person or that I just looked radiant. I'm not bragging. Or at least I don't mean to be. It just felt SOOOOOOOOO good to hear. (Sidenote sally: My husband tells me I'm beautiful all the time. Pretty much every day. He has never once told me I look big - only beautiful. Men - you should do this if you're wife is pregnant. Even if he doesn't mean it, it's very smart of him.) But it was so nice - instead of hearing that I looked big or swollen - to hear that I looked good. And from total and complete strangers. It was a breath of fresh air. So if you see a pregnant woman today, tell her she looks great. It will truly MAKE her day. Especially if she feels like the state puffed marshmallow woman.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 3:45 PM 1 comments
Labels: random thoughts, things that get me riled up, we're having a baby, yeah...i'm a little bit crazy
It's true what they say about opinions...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Not only are they like assholes, but often, the people giving them can sound like assholes. Notice I did not say ARE. They probably aren't. I know I've been an ass when stating my opinion. Or more accurately, I should say, I've been an ass when refusing to listen to other people's opinions, forgetting that I could possibly (gasp) LEARN something from what they have to say.
There is very little in this world that is right or wrong. Things aren't very black and white. There are more shades of gray than I'm even aware of. But lately, I've noticed people feeling the need more and more to PUSH opinion on one another. I've certainly experienced it myself given that I'm having a child. Somehow, every other person in the universe wants to tell you the "right" accessory, the "right" thing to do about working or not, about breastfeeding, about how to freaking give birth, forgetting along the way that many of those things are very personal choices that one has the right to make on their own. Even friends who start out by bitching about all the annoying opinions people will give you once they find out you're pregnant will end up giving you their unsolicited opinion about things when they disagree with the choice it sounds like you'll be making. I'm embarrassed (btw, do you think that word comes from being bare-assed? Because that's embarrassing. Every time I write embarrassed, I think about how, somehow, that word must have originated from someone who was mortified and running around with a naked rear end. End of tangent...) Ahem. I was saying that I'm embarrassed to admit that at the beginning of my pregnancy, when I was attempting to educate myself about things that I finally realized I have absolutely NO control over, I was spouting my opinion to people as well. Spouting in a way that made me sound like it wasn't opinion, but instead THE answer. The only answer. The only way. And dude - I haven't even done any part of it yet!!! A.S.S.H.O.L.E
As of late, the political atmosphere has led to tremendous opinion spouting of the above persuasion. No question I am passionate about the things I believe in. I know what I hope for our country, for our leaders, and while I know I would have tremendous stake in this election regardless, I do think that knowing I'm bringing a child into the world has made our next leader that much more important to me.
But I also understand that there are others who are also opinionated and have strong beliefs that are totally and completely different than mine. I understand that I can learn something from looking at the beliefs and ideas of others even if I don't necessarily agree. I understand that different beliefs may mean that I don't have anything in common with another person, but more often, just means that we have different points of view on some things. I can respect that. I can have conversations about it - usually in a civil manner - and understand that I may have my eyes opened or learn something new.
I have friends that are Jews, Catholics, Christians, Atheists. I have friends that are gay, straight and in between. I have friends that are Black, White, Asian, Hispanic and everything in between. I have friends that are Democrats and I have friends that are Republicans. More Democrats than Republicans...but that's not the point.
I respect the right to choose.
I have tried to steer fairly clear of politics here. I have posted a few videos that I thought were too funny and accurate to keep to myself. But all in all, I think I've kept my political mouth shut.
Political conversations can turn naaaaaaaaaaaasty with a capital N. All of a sudden parents are shouting at kids, brothers are shouting at sisters, people are calling each other names and getting really heated in ways you've never seen them get heated before. People aren't respecting other people's OPINIONS. They are being - in a word - assholes.
But I'm breaking the seal - I'm going to talk politics.
I, myself, am a huge Obama supporter. I am mostly a Democrat - although I truly believe in looking at the candidates rather than simply following a party. There have been great Democratic leaders and great Republican leaders and there have been terrible leaders that have emerged from both parties as well (present leadership included. On a side note, we went to see W. this weekend and I wanted to punch the screen because that man is such. a fucking. IDIOT.) I do not think that Obama is perfect. But personally, I believe that he represents more of what I want to see happen in this country than McCain does. I believed this before McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, and once he made that ridiculous choice, I believed it with every ounce of my being.
However, I can respect that there are people who do not feel the same way as I do.
What I am struggling with is the number of people - people who seem to me to have liberal belief systems - who have friends that are gay, that believe in a woman's right to choose, that think it's time for this ridiculous waste of a war to end, who are committed to the environment and to CHANGE - that are considering voting for McCain. And there seems to be only one reason and one reason alone that these people are making this choice.
Money.
Money. Money. Money. I hear these people spouting their mishegas about not wanting to be taxed more harshly (because they land in the higher tax bracket) and all of a sudden their eyes morph into dollar signs and their words go into slow mo and it sounds like there's a devil behind them saying, "I don't care about the future of the world...I am greeeeeeeeedy and I will keep ALL my money no matter WHAT the cost to our country, to my children..." and then they shrivel up into green smokey dollar signs and melt away and then I return to Planet Earth.
Look, I'm not thrilled about paying more taxes (although my other question in this whole thing is, given our current economic climate, does ANYONE TRULY THINK that there's any way in HELL that whoever lands up in office isn't going to raise taxes in some way or another? And if so, I'd love for them to explain to me how that person IS going to deal with things. Thanks...) WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WANTS to give away more of their hard earned money? No one. But I just don't get it - if you don't really believe in the rest of the things that McCain stands for. If you don't believe in Sarah Palin and her ability to run our country. If on MOST other issues, you side with Obama, how do you check the box for McCain/Palin next Tuesday?
Because to me, that's not an opinion at all. That's just ASS.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 5:09 PM 3 comments
Labels: it's always dumb to talk politics, on a soapbox, things that get me riled up
Tom and Padma have me aghast
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Say it isn't so.
How is it possible that Lisa made it through AGAIN???? I know many of you have no idea that I'm talking about the bad attitude clad, mediocre contestant who made it into the top 3 in Top Chef last night. But I can't keep quiet about it any longer. I am totally baffled.
Sort of like brookem was yesterday when she read my blog. Due to the state of my groggy brain, I failed to mention the fact that, while there are many other places in the country that have buttons that pedestrians can push in order to request a walk signal, New York City does not. In New York, you walk when the sign tells you (or when a car isn't coming...). But then again, yesterday I talked about how many times I've been away in the pasta month. And this morning I im'd someone to "wait a sex."
It's been a long week. I will be happy when it's over. If Lisa freaking wins Top Chef, I might have to boycott. Just like I did after Jennifer Hudson got voted off Idol. Yeah. That lasted for the 6 days in between that episode of Idol and the next one.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 5:16 PM 3 comments
Labels: daily, things that get me riled up
For the Love of Quiche
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Alright - I have to take a break from my NYC recap to discuss the insanity that is otherwise known as me. Let me explain.
I'm having a brunch for my husband's birthday on Sunday at our house. I love entertaining. LOVE. I love having dinner parties, bridal showers, cocktail parties, brunch extravaganzas...I love it. I love planning the menus, planning the flowers, figuring out my schedule. And I'm good at it. I know this.
I'm also Jewish which means that the worst possible thing that could happen at any of the above events is that I run out of something. Food, alcohol, parking permits...everything must be in abundance which means that I end up making ridiculous amounts of food.
Mostly, however, I tend to panic over things that do not need panicking. I am an excellent cook. If the recipe is a good recipe, then it's always comes out well. I've gotten good at altering recipes to fit my own tastes as well. And baking, which is a science, is a natural for me since I am completely anal and I measure everything perfectly - a trait which can be annoying at other times in my life but comes in extremely handy in baking.
I love to try new recipes. Love. Especially when it's been tried by someone else that I trust - be it my good friend, Ina (aka The Barefoot Contessa), my mom, or one of the foodblogs that I've grown to trust and love.
So can someone PLEASE explain to me why I have my panties in a bunch over the idea of making a quiche crust? I am totally petrified. I am picturing any number of horrifying things happening. I simply can not fathom that I will be able to make this without royally screwing it up. I have considered the crustless quiche - but no. If I am going to make a quiche, I'm making the crust...because as Thomas Keller says, it's not a quiche without a crust.
I have now spent countless hours scouring the internet for "easy" quiche crust recipes. All of them terrify me. What if I don't get the consistency right? What if it's too dense, not dense enough? What if I roll it out to 1/3 of an inch instead of 1/4? What if, what if, what if...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME???
It's not like I'm going to freaking poison anyone. It's not like I'm not already making my very fabulous, constantly requested, tried and true breakfast bread pudding among other things that I am certain will leave everyone satisfied and delighted even if, for some reason, my quiches crash and burn.
Regardless, I have been obsessing ALL DAY over quiche. I go back and forth between "I have to have a crust" and "Screw Thomas Keller". I'm trying to find Julia's famed recipe online but alas, I may just have to get my ass to the bookstore to purchase a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I have The Joy of Cooking at home and supposedly, that's a good recipe as well...BUT WHAT IF IT ISN'T? If only Ina had a quiche recipe!!!
Someone - anyone - please tell me if you have a quiche recipe you love, if you think a quiche is still a quiche without the crust. You're welcome to tell me that I'm a total lunatic - it's nothing I don't already know.
I just want to stop obsessing over freaking QUICHE!!!!
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 12:43 PM 1 comments
Labels: food and drink, things that get me riled up, yeah...i'm a little bit crazy
43.4%
Thursday, February 7, 2008
I've started about 50 drafts on this subject before...and I never hit publish. They sounded trite, preachy, uninteresting. But I just read something that confirms my fears and I can't be quiet any longer and if I sound trite or preachy or uninteresting, well, so be it.
' "There was a survey done by the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse U. that found that 43.4% of teen girls wanted to become celebrity personal assistants. They chose this option twice as often as being president of a college, three times more often than U.S. senator and four times more than chief executive of a major company," Gladstein said.'
-Fox Atomic pauses for a 'Moment', Variety
I am rendered speechless. And heartbroken. And...well...ummm...PISSED!!!
I'd feel about ten thousand times better if they had at LEAST said that they wanted to become a celebrity. And by the way, do not think for a moment that I'm dissing celebrity personal assistants because I'm not. It's a challenging job that requires very specific talents. Call me crazy, but I don't think that most of the girls answering this survey really care about the actual job of being a personal assistant. They care about being a part of what they read every week in Us Weekly. They care about getting into clubs and being in the know. They care about meeting famous people. They care about seeing and being seen. They care about being a part of a world that has become the obsession of this country.
I don't know any of this for a fact. I didn't talk to the teenage girls. I don't know what reasons they gave for having these aspirations. But I can't imagine that all 43.4% of them are sitting there saying, "When I grow up, I want to be a celebrity assistant!" because that's truly what they hope and dream of, because it's how they feel their talents will be used best. I am willing to bet large sums of money that if this was studied further, the answers as to why these girls want to be celebrity assistants when they grow up would look very similar to the list above.
So what. So what if that's what they want to do. It's their lives.
SERIOUSLY??? SO WHAT? If you're sitting here reading this saying that then please, PLEASE explain to me how it is that you view this situation differently than me because I REALLY want to understand how this is NOT the epidemic that I feel it is. That after years and years of women before us paving the way for us to be anything we want to be, what we want to be is a celebrity assistant??? This pierces me to the bottom of my soul. That the obsession with celebrity in this country has grown to such epic proportions that in order to be close to that world, 43.4% - THAT'S ALMOST HALF - of teen girls want to be celebrity assistants.
Celebrities are not the characters that we see them play. Their lives do not start with teasers and have a perfect ending after a well crafted 100 minutes filled with one major conflict that is almost always solved. They are human beings. I know...I know. They're really wealthy and they can get into whatever restaurant they want whenever they want and people send them free things. They hire stylists that allow them to be trend setters. Oh yeah...except for those moments when their stylists get it all wrong and they walk out of the house looking like bag ladies or like they're color blind and the ENTIRE WORLD comments on it. And then there's the fact that they often feel like animals in a zoo when they go out to eat because the rest of the restaurant is staring at them the whole time and there's a decent possibility that their food choices for the evening will end up on the pages of Star. They have to hear things on the news or see things in print about themselves that aren't true. They get chased by paparazzi at all hours of the day whether their going to the doctor or to their niece's 2nd birthday party. When they go to the grocery store, they inevitably end up in the "Stars...They're just like us!" section. WHAT THE HELL!!!!! OF COURSE THEY'RE JUST LIKE US. Sure there are many ways in which they lead charmed lives...but they are not exempt from being human. They feel deeply. They hurt. They have days where they feel ugly. They feel pressure. They have losses. The feel misunderstood. They need a moment to themselves. They cry and they ache and they want things that they don't have and they have moments where they wonder if everything will be ok. They have to work hard in their personal relationships. Sometimes they want to crawl under the covers and hide. Of course the world will never let them.
Meanwhile, why isn't anyone talking about the latest work that Angelina's doing in Africa instead of whether or not she's having a baby? Why isn't anyone focusing on the great humanitarians of the past 5 years rather than what and who Paris did last night? Oh please...don't get even get me STARTED down that road. That's another post entirely. Yes...the one about how posting a sex video online and having millions of dollars instantly makes you a household name and gives not only you, but the entirety of Hollywood delusions that you might be able to act or even -dare I say it - sing?? I can't. I can't right now...I'm just too upset about the 43.4%. This will have to wait for another day. But for now, someone, maybe the same person who's not upset about this whole phenomenon, please explain to me how it's possible that we live in a world that you don't have to do anything worthwhile to gain notoriety?
And people walk around saying, "Uch...kids these days..." But it's adults that are fostering this - adults are putting crap in the tabloids and paying for the pictures. The kids are just responding to the stimulus we're giving them. And now 43.4% of them just want en tree into this world, any way they can get it.
I'm telling you - it breaks my heart. And it makes me mad. And it should make you mad too.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 2:45 PM 2 comments
Labels: on a soapbox, things that get me riled up
