This poorly-told story is a two parter.
Part one: We have a lot of plastic jugs in the basement that cause me angst. The litter inside was cheap, but the wasteful plastic has a heavy cost. (*cough* heavy handed *cough* tree hugger) On Sunday I took one of them to Lincoln to see if any of the pet stores sold litter in bulk. They do! They sold two sizes to refill: 16 pounds or 30 pounds. I showed the cashier my non-standard container and asked if I could fill it. She hemmed and hawed and I said, “If it’s between 16 and 30, I’ll pay for the 30.” She agreed.
I filled up my jug and then stood for twenty years in the checkout line. The people ahead of me were buying a bunch of stuff for their adorable puppy and it involved coupons and rebates and took a really long time. The girl I spoke to originally was gone, and the new girl was flustered from all the the puppy paraphernalia, and then by my non-standard jug. She weighed it and it was 22 pounds. Teenage Manager Boy came over and told her to punch in a code (which she did wrong three times) and finally she rung up my total…… for 16 pounds. I just thanked her and left.
And then. The guilt.
Part two: The Early Dark has come, and Sunday night I was laughing because I was sooooo tired and was getting ready for bed and it wasn’t even 9:30. THEN I realized that I hadn’t set back the bathroom clock and it was actually 8:30! I slept a wonderful sleep…. until guilt woke me.
At 4:30 I was doing bad calculations to figure out how I could make up for cheating PetCo out of two dollars. It involved some basic ‘chunk’ math. If I buy three containers of 20 (not filling the jug up all the way), I can pay for two 30-pound refills. That is not a problem. What is a problem is that every. single. time. I try to figure out cost per pound, I can never remember what to divide where. It’s even there in the sentence! It’s money divided by stuff, right? Right? But no, I have to start out with: “If I had one thing for one dollar. What if I had two things for one dollar? Which way does that go?” I am so, so stupid.
Brad says
Hehe… my challenge is often arithmetic. I sometimes have to get out the calculator to see what 6 times 8 is.
Lloyd says
I think your whole line of thinking is wrong. PetCo knew what they were doing. They even had a manager come and tell them what to do. They are clearly happy with the transaction. You should be too.
Brad says
It does seem weird that they only offer two sizes when you are bringing your own container. Shouldn’t they sell it by the pound if people are bringing in their own various-sized containers?
Mom says
I agree with Lloyd. I am sure the mistake has been made the other way many times. Just figure it will justify itself in the long run. I am also convinced that you have gone over and beyond for other people’s children many times and Petco should be patting you on the back.