Remember the Sales Associates this Holiday Season

The snow has fallen, the trees are being decorated, Christmas shows are taking over the television, it is that time of the year again. I love the whole Christmas season... with one exception. Shoppers. (dun dun dun)

Being a slave in children's retail around Christmas means taking your sanity and will to live and checking it at the door. Here are a few things you shoppers should keep in mind next time you go to a store and deal with the people working there.

1. We are not there to make things difficult for you. We are trying our best to help everyone, much to your suprise we do not wake up in the morning and think about how we can ruin you day.

2. If we say we don't have it in the back, we really don't have it. Don't ask us if we are sure it's not there. If we've taken the time to go back and check and come up empty handed, we don't have it. We want you to buy it, why would we leave it in the back. Look around the store it is busy, other people have bought your item. Not our fault. I'm sure your daughter really wants it but there is nothing I can do for you, you should have shopped earlier.

3. Yes there is a line. You knew that when you walked into the store. There was a line last Christmas and there will be a line next Christmas. Suck it up and stand in line. And no you don't get to skip ahead because you are busy, you can wait in line like everybody else.

4. Gift Reciepts. When I ask if you need them and you say no, don't tell me after the transaction that you need them.

5. Just because it was on sale last week doesn't mean it will be on sale this week. Don't yell at me about it.

6. After you have just watched me fold an entire table of shirts, please, please don't unfold everyone. It will make me cry.

7. When returning, you get the same amount of money back that was spent on the item in the first place. Its not my fault you thought it was worth more.

8. You cannot barter the prices of the items with me. The price is on there for a reason, an dthat is the way it will stay, no matter how hard you try. I don't have the power to change it.

9. When debit and credit go down, I didn't do it. I would love for it to be working more then you know, and yelling at me about it is not going to fix it.

10. Yes the Christmas carols playing in the store are annoying. Just remember you get to leave the store, I'm stuck there for eight hours.

To all of the customers who don't complain, who understand that we are just doing our jobs, and who don't yell at me becauseit's five pm on Christmas eve, you didn't get all your presents and the mall is now closed. We, the poor sales associates, love you.

Just take the time to say "Have a nice day" and you can make our crazy day a little bit better. When you do your Christmas shopping, have a little respect for the sales associates, we probably want to be there about as much as you do.

Twitter.....

So today, after much protest and trying to put it off as long I could I was finally forced into joining the ever growing social media cult of... Twitter.
My PR insctuctor, Melanie, had the entire class join today and I must say its not quite as bad as I thought. I have been very carefully avoiding joining Twitter, but after being forced to join I have come to the conclusion that if I can ever actually understand it I may kind of like it.
A scray thought I know.

My first impressions were a mix of confusion and shock, however I did figure out how to change my background! I also was able to try to work my way around Twitter, but only because I had the help of my trusty "How To" paper! Thanks Melanie!

I hope that it will all become less confusing the more I experiment withthis whole Twitter thing, I guess this is a new adventure brought to me by CreComm.

I guess I'll just have to see how it goes....

A Real Life Hero

Joining the Armed Forces was never a question for Major Anthony Battad; it was in his blood. His grandfather served in the Second World War and he has lots of uncles in both the United States and the Canadian militaries. "It was also a way for me to get my education paid for, but most of all, a way for me to serve Canada," Battad says with pride.

Major Battad was deployed with 1 Canadian Field Hospital to Kandahar as part of the International Security Assistance Force for the first time in 2006. Battad has gone back every year since, for three months at a time. he is not scheduled to deploy again but "if I was told to go, I would. I don't question where my government sends me."

"It's always difficult being away, especially in a strange and dangerous place. We were very busy tending to the wounded in our hospital. We also took care of a lot of Afghan kids and civilians and got to travel to villages where we provided care. I got to know a lot of the local customs but it was still a difficult place to be." This last tour Battad wass in Kandahar over Christmas. "My daughters had a really hard time with it. My wife is an amazing, strong woman though, so there is never any worry on my part." Battad's favourite memories occurred on this tour. "I remember giving out candy at Christmas to all the kids who came to our camp from surrounding vilages. For a short time they forgot about the war around them, and they were just kids. Much like kids in Canada at Christmas. It was awesome."

The Canadian militery has been in Afghanistan since 2002. Many Canadians who have not been to Afghanistan wondeer if we still belong there and if we are helping, myself included. Battad is a firm believer that we are in fact doing more good then causing harm. "I think we are certainly helping the people of Afghanistan by building schools, providing security and providing needed medical care. If these changes are lasting, only time will tell."

"Remembrance Day for me is a reminder of the sacrifices people have made for our great country, not only the men and women of the Armed Forces, but also the men and women of the RCMP, the police forces and firefighters, etcetera. All the people who risk their lives, so we can live in a safe country. I have been all over the world, and I really do believe that our way of life, and the freedoms we enjoy are worth fighting for." Since Battad has returned from war his view on Remembrance Day has not really changed. "It just hits home for me a little more, since I've actually gone to war and lost friends." Battad normally goes to his daughters' school to participate in their ceremony, then on November 11 he takes his family to one of the services. "After the service, a few of us usually go to a Legion and have a drink with some of the older vets."

"Our war experience is different from the older vets in some ways, but in a lot of ways eerily similar. It just goes to show you that war sucks, no matter what generation."

Icelandic Love Poem

This poem is dedicated to my CW Professor at the U of M. Thanks for all the helpful feedback on it. Its also dedicated to... well you know who you are. Enjoy everyone!

Walking with the stars
sparkling ever as bright
the river reflecting in the glasses
that he wears hiding his feelings.
Hand in hand, step after step
their lives march ahead with time.
Has she been left behind?
Did she miss a step?
The man she now holds is a different man,
at times she still catches glimpses of his past.

In an ancient children's storybook,
the kind with princesses and magic,
is where she once lived with him.
He made her smile, believe all things were possible,
and made her feel safe-
she is still safe.
Her life changed the instant he walked in,
and has been changing ever since.

At all times she walks with the stars,
fascinated with what he hides behind the glasses.
Hand in hand, step after step
Aware that she'd remain there
regardless what time the pair were living in.
He will be the half that releases the grip.
Awaiting then, the pair will walk,
deeper and deeper, farther and farther
strengthening themselves, tied with desire.
He is she as I am you
And it shall remain as that.
Eg enn per

*Note from Sam: Eg enn per is Icelandic meaning me and you*

Trick-or-Treat

So Halloween is quickly approaching and I decided that with barely a week left it was time to finally figure out what Halloween costume I would be sporting this Halloween. Now I know it sounds silly but after just one year I had forgotten how much I hate buying a Halloween costume.

Reason #1: The Price

Buying a pre-made Halloween costume costs the most ridiculous amount of money, anywhere between $20 and $90, plus then you have to buy the accessories to go with the costume. In the picture the girl is all dressed up in all the items you need to make your costume perfect, but when you are actually holding the costume you quickly realize that everything but that little dress is sold separately. You almost need to take out a loan to buy this costume that you are only going to wear once, and only for a few hours at that.

Reason #2: The Line

Now this one is probably completely my fault. If I was smart I would either go during the day or earlier when the Halloween costumes first came out but I am a master procrastinator so this will never happen. Sadly it seems most of Winnipeg is like me and less then a week before Halloween we climb into our cars and drive out to the costume store. Party Stuff on Regent is my favorite; I go there every year, along with half the city... We go and look at those really small pictures on the wall then stand in line to tell that poor, underpaid worker what number and size we want, praying they still have it left. Then wait what seems like hours (actually only about 10 minutes) for then to find it in the back. Then you go up and down the crowded aisles to find all the necessary and the unnecessary-but-can't-live-without accessories to make our costume better then last year. We then look for the end of the cashier line, which wraps around the whole store... twice, cursing all these people for shopping the same day as you. No need to feel bad about this, they are all cursing you as well. After spending half your life in line you finally get out of the store, only to have to wait in line to leave the parking lot. It is at this point every year you tell yourself, Sam next year you will go early. And you believe it for about 5 minutes.

Reason #3: How Small Are These Costumes

Ok ladies, I have some news for you. You know who you are. Just because it is Halloween does not qualify as a good enough reason to wear a shirt for a dress or a top that shows everything from across the room. I know, I know that is pretty much all they sell these days. Maybe if you just look a little harder.... And to you people designing the costumes. Please, please use a little more fabric. For the prices you charge you can add a little more.

Now don't get me wrong. Really I love Halloween. It is one of my favorites, I mean free candy and getting to be whatever you want for a day, what's not to love. But costumes.... oh costumes.... you make me broke....

Happy Halloween Everyone!

This Thanksgiving I was thankful for....

This past weekend was one of my favourite weekends of the year. Thanksgiving weekend! I consider any reason to get together with friends and family and eat a HUGE amount of food, especially when its turkey, is a great thing. This year I was in charge of making dessert, so I decided, seeing as it’s Thanksgiving and all, to make some pies. Now I hate pumpkin pie, therefore I refused to make it. So after a long deliberation on yummy and not so yummy pies I decided on apple pie and lemon-meringue pie.

So my mom and me headed out to the grocery store to battle it out with the other shoppers for Thanksgiving Day cuisine. We managed to find everything and were so excited to get out of the busy Sobeys, both vowing to shop early but both knowing that was never going to happen. We finally made it home both alive only to find that we forgot to get the pie crust.

Now how in the world am I supposed to make my yummy pies with out the crust? I couldn’t come up with a way either; so back off to the store I went. Lucky for me I live only about two minutes from an Extra Foods, so there I headed… alone… I had no idea of what was about to happen…

So I’m walking in Extra Foods and all the way in the back corner is where they keep the pie crusts. I’m trying to make my way through the endless carts, hoping to make it out alive. Then I see it. The heavens open up and the angels start singing, it is the last box of pie crusts. The very last one.

I very happily open the freezer and grab the box, shamelessly doing my “I-got-the-last-pie-crusts” dance, and turn around to head for the checkout. This is the part where it starts getting messy. This old lady stops me and says, “I need those pie crusts”.

Now I’m thinking what in the world is this lady talking about. I must have had some weird look on my face as if I didn’t understand her so she repeated her previous comment as she grabs for the box I’m holding in my hands.

Now I’m standing in the aisle, pulling on one end of the box while the old lady is pulling on the other end.

“ I’m sorry but this is my box,” I said politely.

“But I need them”

“But these ones are mine”

“ There are no more”

“But I have this box, go find some somewhere else.”

“I want these ones”

At this point I am getting angry, and a little surprised at the grip this old lady has. But I manage to get the box out of her hand, almost falling to the ground, and book it to the check out with the old lady yelling stuff at me.

I walk home, pie crusts in hand, in total shock that I just had to fight and old lady for pie. But I will say those pies were pretty tasty! This Thanksgiving I was thankful for pie!

Buyer Beware

For our advertising class we were broken up into groups for a Buyer Beware project. My group decided to examine Planet Antares/ Wealth Builder seminar. We were sceptical when we first heard about this “business adventure” and thought it was worth looking into. We got lots of the information from the company itself, as John attended the seminar Planet Antares hosted. We noticed a lot of things wrong with this idea right away.

Things such as the idea of getting rich almost overnight, the fact that in the original material that they sent out to potential investors, an initial investment of $87,192 is expected and they do not give you very long to think the idea over. The company encourages you purchasing multiple machines for the get go and they recommend you maintain a secondary source of income.

We found by going out to possible venues for the vending machines that not many people use them anymore, and the locations with large enough traffic to potentially generate a profit already had contracts with vending companies. We found that on a Saturday during the peek hours at Cindy Klassen Recreational Complex the vending machines collected less then $10 in two hours. Taking the prices we found at Costco of products to fill the machines with 1 time cost an average of $137. Also once Planet Antares has you money for the vending machines they leave you on your own to deal with everything, from finding a location to filling the machines to repairing vandalism on the machines.

We also noticed that it was hard to find any complaints on the Internet about the company, which we found shocking. So we looked into them and found out that Planet Antares has the sites they control at the beginning of the search engines. It takes until the second page before you get feedback from other sources, and the feedback is not very pretty.

As a group we decided that Planet Antares is a scam and we hope that after reading this people will stop falling into it and other scams like this which are after your money and then leave you to pick up the pieces.