Sunday, August 10, 2008

it's not that bad, really

Yesterday Josh and I rearranged a bit of furniture and made a lot more attractive space just using things we already had. We purchased a few items at Big Lots for super cheap and all is good. After moving some things around we decided we wanted to get a new dresser (finally) so the old dresser was moved to the guest room and my task today while Josh is working was to go to the furniture store and get a dresser, we knew exactly which one we wanted because we already have one that matches it.
I go to the furniture store where you can typically expect to be hounded as soon as you walk in the door and do you think I could get a single person to wait on me? NO! Maybe it is because I was doing my weekend, no makeup look but seriously. Not a soul approached me. I found the item we wanted to buy and waited near it for 10 minutes thinking a salesperson would surely walk by soon. Finally I went to a different department and found someone...here is where the story I really want to share comes in.
I ask the sweet lady if there are any in stock because we need it like now. She looks it up on the computer and there is 1 left, we have to walk over to a different computer station for her to take payment and collect all my information, not a big deal.
Here is the conversation that came next:

Sweet Sales Lady (SSL): "We can have the dresser here for you to pick up on Tuesday."
Me: "Ok, do we have to pick it up on Tuesday?"
SSL: "Well..."
Me: "The only reason I ask is that my husband has to work on Tuesday so we won't be able to pick it up until Wednesday, would that be a problem?"
SSL: "Well the warehouse is open for pick-ups until 9:30 PM..."
Me: "My husband works 24-hour shifts so..."
SSL: "Oh, I'm sorry." Me: "...we really won't be able to come until Wednesday."

Ok, she is sorry that my husband works 24-hour shifts? I think that is actually the most common response we get when we talk with people about the FF schedule. So just a note to the SSL and all the others who take pity on our schedule, it is our way of life. It's not something we are stuck with, it is something we chose. No pity or apology needed. Simply know that our life has a different schedule than yours and that is all it is, different. It is not bad, sure there are times when we wish it were different but there are also times when we thoroughly enjoy it.

So the rest of the story is that by the time that conversation ended and the lady went to enter my payment information, someone else had bought the 1 dresser that was left. It is backordered now! ugh. Do I want to wait 2 weeks to get it? NO! We'll go tomorrow and look for something else together.

So just wanted to share a note with you all about our life because this conversation today showed me just how weird our schedule is to some people. =) Don't worry, we aren't offended that you think our schedule is bizarre. Just want you to know that we think it is what it is so let's just embrace it. There is no getting around it.

Oh and another note, this blogging thing is getting quite addictive. There are many times throughout the week where I say, "Oh wait I need to grab the camera in case I see something to put on the blog." Or, "Josh, remind me to blog about -----." Or, "Josh, can you cook dinner so I can write this blog post." HA!

Ok friends, I am going to go sit by myself for the next 16.5 hours until Josh comes home. And I think she should be thankful that he works 24-hour shifts because if she has an emergency there will be someone there to help her very soon after she calls for help...

2 comments:

  1. yeah I wonder if that sales woman thought maybe he was working in a factory or something for 24 hours straight.... that would be sad. But it doesn't seem odd that a fire fighter would work a 24 hour shift... it seems logical. I think i would actually enjoy the alone time, BUT on the other hand I would be scared to sleep by myself!!!!

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  2. If she only knew our "working" for 24 hours really means an hour of playing ultimate frisbee/running, an hour of cleaning, couple hours of training, an hour of cooking/eating lunch, three hours of whatever in the afternoon, a couple hours for cooking/eating dinner,a few more hours of movies/wii, then bedtime. Run anywhere from 2-15 calls in that time and call it a day. Yeah, REAL sorry your husband has to work for 24 hours :-)

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