Friday, November 10, 2006

Ten

The more that think about my post the other day, the more I gotta wonder if I have just forgotten what life was really like before I had kids. I think I have this screwy picture of being all intellectually stimulated, passionate and creative in my job and personal life. Not that I wasn't... I just wasn't on this high of coolness and productivity every waking moment. I wasn't necessarily rolling in all this time to do "my own thing" either.

Fact is... I'm a little bit of a hypocrite.

Huge chunks of my life as a SAHM are semi-discretionary. Take yesterday, I coulda taken the girls to the mall and shopped my brains out. We could have planted our sorry cans in front of the tube and zoned the day away. Could have bundled everyone up and walked to the park and had a picnic. Could have cleaned the house from the baseboards up (maybe should have)...

Instead, we did what we did and the bulk of it was stuff that I am passionate about; my girls, parties, art, food and fun.

More hypocrisy? I blog and quilt... I have good friends who live right on this street. I live within a half hour drive from a bunch of my family. I have people who love and need me. If I am living on auto pilot, it is because I choose it. It was pointed out to me last night that maybe I am living it up more than I think I am. Plus, I realised that I still have some great big old opinions... I am still PUNK ROCK, BABY!

Yup, here's me, living on the raggedy edge.

Last night my little sis and I hit the local Albertson's grocery store for a toothbrush and a beverage. As I am going through the line, the checker asked me if I had an "Albertson's" card... one of those things where you give them your personal information and then they give you a card so you can have their "special" prices. I inspected my key chain, but I knew the little Albertson's tag thingy had fallen off months ago, as well as the Smiths grocery tag. After asking for my phone number so she could access my "savers" account, I just broke down and told the gal that my phone number wouldn't do any good, because I always put down a fake number when I fill the paperwork out. She was kinda taken aback, but the bagger at the end of the check out counter seemed to be getting a kick out the the crazy old lady and her edgy ideas. I said half to her, and half to the bagboy that I didn't care to have my purchasing history tracked or sold.

I don't. You might ask who cares?... and you would have a point.... everything I buy, I put on my Discover card, so that information IS being tracked and possibly sold. Fine. I just object to some overpriced grocery store forcing my name and number out of me for the privilege of tracking me. BAH! So I lie, and I have BEEN lying right from the start. I will most likely lie to these scammers of info till the day I die. When I no longer have small children with me I will start back with my habit of getting a NEW card every time I have an extra three minutes to give these folks some NEW misinformation... I have a dream, I do my part to break this sick system.... I will take down the man. One three dollar purchase at a time.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I get very irritated when asked for my zip code while checking out at a store. I realize it's not like they're asking for my social security number, but it still irks me.

I have a very simple relationship with retail, I give you my money and you give me your stuff. It's very simple. Why muddy it up?

(Oh, why not give a fake number you can remember? Like (your area code) 867-5309?

Mama D said...

Yeah, I'm a sucker. I don't want to give my real info I just feel guilty if I don't. ? I'm sure they don't feel guilty about whatever they are doing with it...

Go Bon go!

Anonymous said...

I routinely give fake names, phone numbers, our old phone number, leave a number out, or give old or bogus email addresses, etc. when filling out forms.

Just like when I used to go to the bar and a guy I didn't like would ask for my name and phone number.