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Monday, May 17, 2010

How about this one. Will it work?

The FTI grounds-keeping crew normally does an exemplary job in keeping the compound appearing neat, clean, and well landscaped. They do this at my direction in order to give visitors the appearance that all is normal here and since "the first impression is the best impression," we won't scare anyone off before we can fully explain what our mission here really consists of. As yesterday was Sunday and the staff is off on that day, it was decided that perhaps a trip to the local nursery to update some of the landscaping features may well be in order. Doubling as both the Safety and Beautification Officer here at FTI, Mrs Kfred ordered encouraged me to tag along and confirm any choices she made. While finishing the shopping, I went and loaded the truck and she went to pay the bill. Here is where she got the true taste of what I experience on a daily basis.

While trying to pay for the plants, she attempted to do so with a prepaid rebate card issued to me from Verizon Wireless after having recently bought a new cellular telephone . One of the enticements of the phone in the first place was that a $100 rebate would be extended to me via a debit card. Presenting it for payment, she was told that the card had no balance left on it and that it was being declined. I had originally given it to her to use when I received it and she knew there was still an approximate $50 balance on it having it used it only once previously, so, was puzzled and embarrassed over the whole incident. She came out to the parking lot and insisted that I call Verizon and complain that they were cheating us, not taking care of the customer, etc. I told here perhaps we should try the card elsewhere just to confirm there was a problem. A stop at the grocery store confirmed that, indeed, the card had a remaining balance and we purchased some groceries with no difficulty whatsoever. Obviously something was wrong. A mistake, an oversight, a screw-up.

This same type of description could be listed in the personal biographies of the staff of our Institute personnel directory. Coincidence? I think not.

2 comments:

  1. I had the same thing happen with a gift card/debit card. Bah.

    And coincidentally, I spent the morning at a garden center yesterday as well. However I didn't remain in the car. I should have. Those $19.99 flats sure do add up fast!
    Can I borrow your debit card for the next trip? I need mulch...
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I worked my fat little fingers to the bone over the last month on my 1/2 acre vegetable garden only to have a MASSIVE, freak hailstorm blow through Monday. Buh bye fresh veggies.

    I simply cannot speak of garden centers at the moment. sniff sniff

    I do hate Verizon if that helps, however.

    ReplyDelete

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