I love new running shoes. It is so exciting. I would prefer to buy them at a store, however, I don't buy them at full price ever. That means that it may be an online purchase. (scary, cause you can't try them on). I researched. And I searched the web. And I searched some more. I bought a pair of shoes. They arrived, and I really wanted to like them. But nope. It did not work out. The color was a shockingly bright pink, the fit was too roomie and also just not comfortable. So I did some more searching. I found a good deal on a pair from Dick's sporting goods. And there was $15 off on top of the sale if you bought them online. I called the store to see if I could just buy them there. Yes, they had them, no go on getting the $15 off. So online it was, for in store pick up. How odd. I bought the same pair of shoes that I would have gotten had I have walked into the store, but I saved $15 by paying for them online.
They were ready the next day! Oh happy day! I walked into the store and saw a kiosk. You scan the barcode of your order and the shoes are supposed to come to you. I waited a bit. And waited some more. And then waited. I asked a woman if I did things correctly. She said yes and talked into her walkie talkie. And I stood by my kiosk some more. And then, yay! the shoes came (along with three associates training each other in how to work the new kiosk system but they seemed excited about it and I got my shoes and got to talk to people, if ever briefly.)
There is a farm stand near us on Saturday mornings. It is just one stand with local fruits, veggies, and honey. It is great because they have a lot of different things to get. Next to the stand is a man, Bob, who sells Great Harvest bread. He is a really nice guy. One week we went to the veggie stand. It was raining. We needed some bread to but we did not have cash. We stopped by Bob to see if he would take a credit card. No. But he asked us if we needed it. We answered that we were alright. Then he asked if we needed a peach berry crumble bar. "We don't neeeeeed it." It was raining and business was really slow, he said, he felt like just giving stuff away. He gave us the bar and we walked away with a delightful snack and a vow to bring cash for bread some day. (two weeks later we did.)
At the veggie stand two week after our first meeting with Bob, I felt like we were in a Portlandia episode. I would ask if this or that item was from the area. And the woman next to me would ask too, then she would ask if they were sprayed. "Are those berries sprayed?" One worker said no, the other said a hesitant yes. "Before or after the fruit?" As we were interacting and asking questions, it felt kind of funny and surreal. Then the lady told me all about her garden and which plants grow well in North Carolina. (including kiwis, who knew?) Someday, I will have a garden too! I told her we had herbs on the porch, which surprisingly have not died this year.
