Language » Hip to be Mom

On Wednesday, after picking Raine up at college, we headed to a nearby mall for a quick lunch before dropping her back at college for her next class. We had coupons for free drinks and desserts at our favorite chicken place. But when we got there, the waiter insisted the coupon had expired. Has it really?!

Wednesday was June 1. The coupon says it’s “valid for 1 month from date of issue May 10″. So we still have 10 days before the coupon expires!

The manager came over to point out to me that the coupon had expired on May 10. When I tried to explain, she then turned around and said oh, the date was incorrectly printed! I’m like, what!

When she lost on that one, she tried it from another angle. She said the button on the cash register was gone! Um, he-llo??

Pretty soon, they brought out her manager when it became clear that none of them could out-talk me! Quite honestly, they were just wasting their time, and mine. I’d had it up to here with folks who can’t read, don’t know their jobs and who think they can get away with BS.

So we got up and left. Yes, I know it’s not that big a deal. It’s only drinks and desserts, right? Thing is crappy customer service has become the rule rather than the exception and frankly, I’m getting very tired. Some folks might accept it because they’re gullible, or can’t figure it out, or are trying to avoid confrontation.

Not me. Don’t even get me started!

There was, however, a sweet ending to this whole story. My girls suggested we went back to the franchise restaurant that gave us the coupons in the first place. I’m so glad we did. The crew there happily accepted our coupons with a big smile and we got our Chocolate Crunch Roll. Too sweet! Literally .

How do you deal with crappy customer service? Do you just let it slide or do you stand your ground?

Every now and again, I come across a meme with questions that are close to my heart. So here goes…

1. Are you annoyed by people who don’t type correctly?

Yup but only because I’m pretty critical of myself too. I’m uber particular about speaking and writing properly. I think it has paid off though. All my 3 kids are prolific writers and confident public speakers.

2. Are you a grammar freak?

Afraid so. You’re looking at the resident grammar police.

3. Do you love the popcorn at movie theatres?

Gotta have it! I think there’s a reason they always have that popcorn aroma wafting out at you once you step in.

4. Where is the best place to go buy pizza?

That Italian restaurant on the right side as you walk into Downtown Disney, Anaheim – sorry, can’t remember the name.

5. What was the last award you received?

No idea. Do I even qualify for one? Hmmm.

6. Are you a beach person or a mountain person?

Beach but I don’t like the sun but at least there’s cute blond beach bums to check out. That’s 2 ‘buts’ in one sentence. Hey, where’s the grammar police?

Anyhoo, it’s my first time participating in Learn Something New Tuesday. If you want to play, hop over to Life with the Dietrich’s.

Invisible sound

Posted by Clairity 3 Responses »

May 032010

The kids and I were having this conversation about whales. Don’t ask me what started this conversation. Anything could launch us into an impromptu word game . So I was saying that whales make an “invisible sound”. It took a minute for this to sink in, then the kids were looking at me like what?

Invisible sound? What’s that even mean?

So what should it be? Soon everyone was chiming in and after a whole bunch of crazy, hilarious, totally unrelated answers, someone softly said: Inaudible!

Ding, ding, ding!! We have a winner. Guess who the smarty pants was?

I’m completely amazed at the recent news stories about people who have suffered cardiac arrest, died and then were brought back to life. There apparently are an increasing number of cases like these and it’s just fantastic news, thanks to a new CPR!

I’ve posted the news stories and video here of how to perform this new CPR and you can learn it in like 2 minutes. I hope you will take time out to watch the video. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. I’ve made my kids view this and I hope you will get your family to watch it too. In fact, I’ve posted it on my navigation bar as well so you can access it any time.

I mean, with something like this, you just never know when it could come in handy, and you could end up saving the life of a loved one. It’s definitely an invaluable 2 minutes you could spend to learn this new CPR.

okay Occasionally I teach English at college, and one of the things I love to do is walk into class on a Monday morning with this sprightly question, “So how was your weekend?”.

I love challenging my students to a tough question first thing Monday morning to get their brain juices going, right ? Even though I know the standard one-word answer I get every time will be a fairly lifeless “Okay”.

I’m not talking about students who are new to the English language. These are kids who’ve recently graduated from high/secondary school, some of whom are in the habit of scoring strings of A’s even.

So how was your weekend? – Okay!

Uh-ha, so what’s ‘okay’ mean – exactly? Is that ‘okay’ as in borderline boring but tolerable? Or ‘okay’ as in lots of fun but the rain drenched your spirits somewhat? For some strange reason, everything here is ‘okay’, a word that doesn’t really say much at all.

You want some pizza? – Okay!

How was your English test? – Okay!

What do you think of the new boy/girl in your class? – Okay!

Well, it’s time to shake that Okay Syndrome. You can help your kids improve their vocab by pointing out new things to them. Get them reading. Make it fun to learn new words. Take it from me, having a wider English vocab would really help them express themselves better when they get to college .

A couple of weeks ago, I started learning French. It’s a language that holds a certain mystique for me. It sounds so deliciously flowery I decided that I would spend a few minutes every night to pick it up.

Bon jour!

Well, actually I got past saying a tout � l’heure when I dropped the girls off at school on Lundi before I head off to the gym. And I was hoping that by Ao�t, I would je comprends un peu Fran�ais. But I don’t *sobs* .