My UnGrateful List... Artichoke War Declared

I am always grateful for artichokes... and at our house it is a Friday evening tradition to enjoy this delicacy.  This week they tasted even better.  But it had nothing to do with their size... and all to do with the price!  Several months ago we used to get absolutely gorgeous artichokes at Sav-on Foods and we did not mind paying $3.59 each for them... they were huge and really good eating.  But then they got smaller and smaller and the price didn't change.  Six months ago we paid $1.59 for the small ones, about the same size as the ones in the picture above.  To see a big one click on this link.

For several weeks I begrudgingly paid $3.59 for these wincy little specimens... but it bothered me so much I quit buying them... and wished everyone would quit as well.  But the stupid people must have kept buying them anyway.  So a couple of weeks ago I talked to a guy in produce about it.  I asked him if they had any large artichokes?  He said that these were all they had.  So I told him I would not pay $3.59 for a tiny, little artichoke and walked away.  I wanted to make a statement.

This past Thursday when I checked on the artichokes it was the same song, 14th verse.  So I waited around for a produce guy to show up and went thru my same story with him.  He gave me some excuse that it wasn't easy to change the bar code price thing.  I asked him if he remembered what a large artichoke looked like and he said he did... but they haven't been able to get them now.  He said they were about the size of three of these.  So he grabbed three of these little guys in his hand and asked, does that look like about the same amount as a large artichoke?  I said that was more like it... so he put them in a bag and tagged the price of one artichoke on to the bag so we would pay $3.59 for all three.

I appreciated what he did, but was still not satisfied that nothing was being done to change the price, and that anyone who wanted to buy artichokes would still be ripped off... paying for large artichokes and only getting small ones.  So I went off to find the manager... who happened to be off that afternoon.  The best I could do was to talk with the Operations Manager.  I went thru my story of how I had been  buying artichokes here for years... and had watched the artichoke get smaller and the price not change.  And how the produce guy seemed helpless to change the bar code pricing... he just stocks the produce.  Could he help to resolve this?  He spent five minutes trying to fix it but couldn't even find the bar code for artichokes. So he called a cash register girl who said they manually put in a number to get the price.

So, the Operations Manager gave me a run around answer... how the prices came down from head office and they were not able to fix the problem in the store.  He would see what he could do.  Now I had the feeling that something really smelled bad here... but I thanked him and we were on our way.

While I was doing my thing with the Manager, Shirley was across the store getting "what for" icy looks  from the check out girl, who did not like it at all that we were getting three artichokes for the price of one.  Like what is it to her?  You would think she was working on commission. 

This is not the end of the story... but you will have to wait until next week for the sequel... after we go back on Tuesday and see if the price has been fixed.  Maybe we will need to get W-5 or 60 Minutes to do a story on the Sav-on Foods Bar Code Rip-offs.

This morning there were three freighter ships in navy Channel.  This past week Shirley saw some letters from cranky old people complaining about how those ships make noise and light pollution.... and couldn't something be done to get rid of them?  

What is a thing of beauty to some is a pain in the neck to others.  Quite frankly, we enjoy seeing the ships.  They are not on our Ungrateful List.

Now since bad things often happen in threes... let me tell you about our parking ticket.  We stopped for lunch on Thursday and paid for our parking at the kiosk... only to find a parking ticket on our windshield when we returned. 

So we phoned the number on the ticket to complain and told them we had paid for the parking... the machine did not record the 4-digit parking space number... only showed three of the numbers.  The guy told me to just fax in a copy of the parking ticket with our receipt.  We expect the problem will be resolved for us... but I suspect that there is a problem with that parking kiosk.  Of course I am not to blame!

So that is my gripe list for today...

Here is my Grateful list.

I am so grateful that my daughter posts her Grateful List every Friday evening so faithfully.  I have come to count on seeing it and really appreciate reading it. 

I just now stumbled onto Good List Daily and was grateful to see Sherilee's name on the list of contributors.

I am grateful for photo memories... and this past week have had more than my share, as Shirley has been going thru old printed photos and stacking them on the table in the appropriate decade... '60's, 70's, 80's, etc.  Every now an again she pops into my office with another photo saying, "Do you remember what year we...?"

I am grateful to be married to the ultimate "Good Finder."  I think it is a good quality for a photographer to have, because Shirley is always observing something and saying, "Isn't that wonderful?"  She notices beauty in so many places where others never see a thing.

I am grateful to have a wife who is a wonderful "nest builder."  Some guys never come home to find the furniture re-arranged... like happened at our house yesterday.  Some guys wish that they could come home and see things cleaned up and tidy... but no.  They come home to a mess.

I always complain about the changes... but really deep down inside I am happy to have a wife who cares about how things look and is endlessly looking for ways to improve our home.

Enough already.  Give the folks a break.  There will be another day.  Get on with it.  Nudge, nudge.

"Is your wife a..."goer"... eh? Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge nudge. Wink, wink!  Know what I mean? Say no more...Know what I mean?"  -Monty Python's Flying Circus

Key Question:  Have you had a bar code problem with pricing on something you purchased?