A Few Short Stories...

1) I heart Big-O Tires. And my dad. I experienced my first flat tire yesterday under the best possible circumstances. I drove to my parent’s house for dinner and my dad noticed it was flat and then put the spare on. I watched. And held the little silver things…nuts?? Bolts?? Once again...Whateva. I did not throw them into a snow bank nor did I curse. I drove home on the donut and then rolled into Big-O at 8:00 sharp. OK fine it was 8:04. Alas, I was not the first customer. I imagined that I was in a pit stop at NASCAR for about 6 seconds and then I read the Utah Style Magazine. Fifteen minutes later and $20.00 poorer I was on my way to work. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask me.

2) It’s finally fall! I love everything about fall, except for one thing. Dressing up for Halloween. Please note that I did not say that I dislike Halloween, just the dressing up part. I also do not like spiders...year-round. Real ones or replicas. I walked into the office 20 minutes early today because of the incredibly fast service at Big-O. The lobby was all dark and creepy and the front desk was covered in cobwebs and there were giant fake spiders all over the stairs. Apparently Halloween is a pretty big deal at my office and everyone dresses up. Not only do I have to walk past 9 giant furry spiders every morning, but I have to come up with some brilliant costume idea. What if everyone is just messing with me and no one dresses up and then I’m the fool in the costume. Now that is something really worth stressing about. Any brilliant costume ideas?

3) It was my turn to bring breakfast today so I went to Albertson’s BEFORE I went to Big-O. So I walk into the dark, cold, creepy office with my arms full of muffins and chocolate milk and the new CFO is just kicking it in the lobby. She comes up to me and says,
“Hi. Today is my first day and I seem to have beaten everyone to the office. Could you tell me where I can find a really good cup of coffee?”
Hmmm…coffee? That’s that smelly brown stuff, right?
She adds, “You know like a Starbucks or something.”
Blank stare…umm…ok think. Think. There has to be a Starbucks around here somewhere.
“Sorry, I’m not really a coffee drinker.”
Oh wait! During the summer my co-worker used to get some sort of chocolate ice drink at a coffee shop. Brews and…no! Beans and Brews. In walks the receptionist.
“Hey Michelle do you know where a Starbucks is or Beans and Brews.”
“A…what?”
“Beans and Brews. I think it might be on State Street.”
“Oh yes. I think it is up on 3rd South and State Street…or is it Main…I’m not really a coffee drinker so I don’t really know.”
Turns out the new CFO just moved here from New York.
Welcome to Utah.

4) I’ll have the usual. My dad has a meeting downtown every other Monday around lunch time so we try to meet up for lunch on those days. Today was one of those days, but he had to handle a…situation…fire drill…complication. So I turned to my two friends that I have at work (Yes. I mean that I only have two friends at work) but unfortunately they had already eaten. (Don’t worry dad, I’m not even mad…but you owe me another shirt when we go to Park City) So I went to the yummy Boston Deli that is conveniently located on Exchange Place, same as me. I walk in and notice that the girl who usually takes my order is eating her lunch at a table. The other girl at the register is on the phone taking another order so I pretend to peruse the menu looking for the perfect lunch, even though I already know what I want. Ten seconds later girl number one comes running up to the register and says, “Hello Amanda! Chicken Pasta Salad with Avocado, right?” I haven’t even been there in the last two weeks and she remembered my name and knew exactly what I wanted. Now that’s customer service. But now I feel bad that I didn’t ask her what her name was. I almost want to go back over there and ask, but that would be weird. I’ll just have to ask her next time.