As you know by now, I, like most people, have pet peeves, little things that just annoy me. Well, here is another one of my peeves – at a baseball game, people that decide to get up right in the middle of a batter up at bat, or while a play is going on. Not only do they interupt your view, you have to put your drink or dog, or pizza or beer down, just to get out of the way. How hard is it to wait for a batter change or a break in the play, really?

Today I was at Skydome watching the Jays sadly lose with men on base at the bottom of the ninth (Vernon Wells struck out to end the game, sucky!), but I digress….the game. My friend and I arrived just as the first inning got under way and there was a batter at the plate. We, along with at LEAST 6 other people, were patiently waiting at the top of the stairs for our turn to walk down and some idiot with a slice of pizza and two beers says, “excuse me” and wants to go down the stairs. To which the skydome attendant asks him to wait while the batter is up. He seemed to be annoyed by this and houghed and puffed and then moved away from me. Within minutes we were on our way to our seats. Thankfully, idiot man was not near us.

During the 7th inning stretch I decided to take my pee break (Ava Avila, Canadian Idol was singing take me out to the ball game, good time to leave), and by the time I came back, again, there was a batter at the plate. This time the two attendants were standing on the stairs blocking them from us to go down. Another idiot with two beers in his hand tries to go down the stairs, and AGAIN, he is stopped…what is wrong with people? Why do they think we are all STANDING up at top of the row as opposed to sitting in our seats enjoying…WE ARE WAITING PEOPLE, JUST LIKE YOU!

Since they no longer play the WHOLE blue jay song at the 7th inning (Player references are dated), I thought I would dig it up and post it here for you Jay fans to enjoy:
You’ve got a diamond, You’ve got nine men, You’ve got a hat and a bat
And that’s not all, You’ve got the bleachers
Got ’em from spring ’til fall, You got a dog and a drink
And the umpire’s call, Waddaya want?
Let’s play ball!
(Chorus)

Okay (okay)
Blue Jays (Blue Jays)
Let’s (Let’s) Play (Play) Ball!

Is that a fly ball, Or is it a seagull
Coming in from the lake, Just to catch the game?
It’s the last inning, Our guys are winning
Dave’s put down a smoker, A strike, And you’ve got no doubt
(You’re out!)
Waddaya want?
Let’s play ball!
(Chorus)

It’s a beautiful evenin’, fans, At the ballpark, Warm summer breezes
Sun’s goin’ down, And it’s all dark, At the ballpark
But that’s okay…it’s a night game, Waddaya want?
Let’s play ball!
(Chorus)
Bring on the White Sox, Bring on the BoSox, Bring on the Brewers
The Rangers and the Yankees too
We’ll beat the Indians, We’ll beat the Tigers
We’ll beat the A’s so bad it’ll make, Billy blue
Waddaya want?
Let’s play ball!
(Chorus)

I think I am like most people, I read the grocery flyers each week and try to make a stop where the best deals are for the products I want. I am not sure if you have read the flyer for Real Canadian Superstores, but they are HEAVY into the Club Packs, and the signage all over the stores is “Club Pack, we beat COSTCO”….so, they had skinless bone in chicken boobs on sale for $1.99lb this week. *NOTE* Flyer runs from Friday to Thursday so today is the last day of the flyer.

I make my way through the veggie aisle, to the bakery to get a cake for my dad’s birthday, and onto the meat and poultry section. To which I find…NO club pack chicken boobs. I proceed to the butcher area and ask the man (young) behind the counter, “do you have the chicken breasts?” (I refrain from saying boobs to him). He replies, not yet, shortly. To which I ask, “shortly, meaning 1/2 hour?” His reply is what pissed me off, “Ma’am, I don’t know, I am not driving the truck!” First of all, I HATE when people call me ma’am, and secondly, is that necessary? Simply I can’t tell you what time, the truck makes deliveries to all our stores, would have sufficed.

I continued to stroll around the store looking at products, and happened to see the manager walking around. I decided to tell him what happened at the meat counter. I was pissed off. He apologized and said that even though his staff was probably just joking, the sarcasm was not necessary. He also said that he couldn’t confirm when the truck would be here, since they DO in fact deliver to all the stores, BUT he would issue me a rain check for the product (we normally don’t do that he says). I thanked him, and proceeded to self check out and then to customer service.

As I am about to leave the store, I bump into a friend of mine coming in and we stand and chat for a few minutes. While we were chatting, an employee runs up to me and tells me that the breasts have just arrived. So, I say good-bye and head back into the store to buy my chicken boobs.

Here is the punchline……

As I am walking BACK into the store…the manager, who is now on the 2nd floor of the store, YELLS out to me….”Ma’am….the breasts are in….”

Everyone has them…things that annoy, frustrate, piss us off and just plain get on our last nerve. I have a few of them, but there is one that comes to mind that I witnessed on Sunday that needs sharing.

I live in a condo, that just happens to be walking distance from a Winners, No Frills and a Walmart. When I first moved in, the WalMart hadn’t opened yet, but the other two stores had. On a regular basis the first several months, I would come home to my home, and see several shopping carts from the stores either in the underground, at the back of the building, and at times, even in the hallways of the buidling. Why do people feel the need to bring these carts, which are private property to the stores they are essentially stealing from to the condo.

I understand that not everyone has the luxury of a car. BUT, there are countless types of carts, buggies and carry type products available in the market for people who walk to purchase to carry their parcels.

Back to the story….I had been shopping at Walmart and was driving out of the parking lot to my condo and noticed a sign that said something to the effect of, “Do not remove shopping carts. Past this boundary, the wheels lock and you will be unable to remove”. Just then, I notice two people with a WalMart shopping cart ahead of me in the parking lot unable to move the cart.

I stopped and rolled down the window. The woman says to me (in broken english), “He cannot move the cart, it is stuck”. To which I reply, “the sign over there says that the wheels will lock if you try to remove the cart”. She looks at me dumbfounded and says, “oh really, I did not know that”….. Really, you just walked by the sign 10 steps behind where you were standing.

I drive away shaking my head and thinking maybe ignorance really is bliss.