the cream cheese saga.

I was very productive today at work. My favorite part about working on the products is the very beginning. Not that I don't love reading through BTX or Bible Express for a fourth time to make sure we've caught everything, but my favorite part is pulling the text into InDesign pages, styling it, and doing the first read. I think it's because I catch so much the first time. Editing is like a game and you win when you find a mistake. Further down the road, when it's been read and re-read eight times, you don't find mistakes very often. That's good for us editors (it means we're doing a good job) but it can also be frustrating because you just know there is a mistake there somewhere and you're not finding it. So today I started putting together May 2010 Bible Express and building stories for Winter 2010-11 BTX Leader Pack. So, besides freezing and being hungry (which I seem to always be at work), it was a good day.

I took 24-E home from work today. There are three routes to get to and from work: 65-S, 24-E, and Nolensville Rd. Nolensville is a straight shot, but there are stop lights and you can only go like 45 mph. But each takes about the same time. Shortly after I get home, Kate gets home. This girl is about to graduate from nursing school and she just worked all night and then went to a class. She's been awake 30+ hours. Kate tells me how 2/3 of her class wants to work in pediatrics and they all want to work at Vandy (which is only going to hire like five people) and how her professors just talked about how horrible the job market is and basically everyone walked out of their suicidal and thinking they just wasted $100,000 on med. school.

Then it gets worse: Kate stopped by Wal-Mart to get chicken and fat-free cream cheese (the cream cheese is to make cheesecake). 4 items. Quiz! How many grocery bags should it take to bag 4 items? Did you say, "Just one"? Right! Any reasonable person could assume that three blocks of cream cheese and a chicken would easily fit into one Wal-Mart bag. So Kate grabs her bag and comes home.

Well, this checker apparently thought maybe she'd need two. You know, because some people are very particular about their cream cheese packages touching their chicken packages. So Kate gets home with only her chicken and (I don't blame her) just wants to go to bed! So she goes to bed.

I look at her receipt and that cream cheese was like $2 a package. Now due to recent events including (but not limited to) my being cut off from my parents' monetary endowments upon my completion of higher education as well as my pursuit of the purchase of a rent-free living establishment, I'm tight with money. I take bean and rice burritos for lunch even though they aren't that great just because they only cost 49 cents to make. Anyway, so I'm thinking, "You can't just let $6 go. It's not even your fault you left your bag."

I picked up my phone and dialed the number on the receipt. I said, "Hi, I just bought four items, and I guess they were put into two sacks because I just brought home one and must have left the other. I'm missing three blocks of cream cheese." So they call someone else in the store and find out that yes indeed, three blocks of cream cheese have been found. They apologize and say I can come back and get some fresh blocks since the purchased ones have been unrefrigerated for an hour and a half.

We live really close to Wal-Mart. There is a big hill behind our house and I bet Wal-Mart is just on the other side. I drive there and almost head straight to customer service but I know they'll say, "Go get some replacements" and then I'll have to stand in line again, so I go get the cream cheese first. There are only five packages left of the fat-free kind, and I take three. Then I stand in line. I'm in line probably six minutes, but it feels like a long time. The people standing behind me are standing way too close. I feel a little uncomfortable. The cream cheese is probably getting warm in my hands. I'm looking at the box because I have nothing else to do and notice that it says: Best If Used By: 13 JUL 09. ! Seriously? That's almost two months ago.

When I get to the counter I tell them what's up and they say, "Yeah, we remember you calling." So I tell them "This is what I want, but these are the only packages left and the expiration says July 13... could I just get a refund?" They say sure and are very friendly and ask if I'm doing OK today and then give me the refund in cash. They have me sign a receipt so I forge Kate's name. Then I drive home with the cash and leave it on the counter for Kate with a note: "Wal-Mart was very apologetic."