Honestly, I kind of hate going to CVS. I loved working there as an employee, but it seems like there’s always an issue when I go there as a customer – whether it’s being stalked by a scary guy with anger-management issues in Woonsocket or dealing with the extremely snarky Italian lady with way too much lip liner in Wakefield. But maybe it’s just me.
Today, I went to the CVS that’s about three seconds away from my parent’s house. Normally, I would go to the big 24-hour one in North Smithfield because they have a much better selection and are usually in better stock, but my feet are still killing me so I decided to bite the bullet and go to the one just down the street.
Boy, was that a mistake.
The only cashier working was an 80-year old mentally challenged man (I’m not just being sarcastic) and it just drastically spiraled downhill from there.
You see, I always get coupons in my email that, for some reason, don’t match up with the physical card that I have. Because of this, the cashier has to manually input the coupon to make it work. But when it’s a 25% off coupon, you have to do the math out because the computer can’t do it. 25% off coupons don’t include items on sale, so what you have to do is add up all the items not on sale, multiply that total by .25, then take that amount off from the total. While this is a more complex coupon than normal – it’s still not rocket science. But my cashier unfortunately didn’t know what he was doing, so he had to call the manager. Apparently, she was on the phone and took (at least) ten minutes to come downstairs. Meanwhile, there’s a line of four people behind me who are quickly becoming impatient.
By the time everybody in line is about ready to kill somebody, the manager finally comes downstairs to take care of the problem. After inputting the coupon several more times to no avail, I tell her that she should do what I stated above. She rudely replied that she would, but wanted to input the coupon one more time. As if the six previous times hadn’t been enough. No matter how many times you punch in the same seven numbers, it’s not going to work.
Finally, she agreed that the next step would be to manually input the coupon amount, and proceeded to do the math out by hand. I offered to use my cell phone, but she refused. When she added up all the items that weren’t on sale, it came up to $25… and her answer for 25% off was “3.17″. Ummm, no. Even I know that’s wrong. Eventually she found the calculator and discovered that, low and behold, 25% of $25 is more than three dollars.
After standing at the counter for twenty minutes, I was finally able to get out of the store. With a brand new CVS card application, I might add. Minus my sanity.
On the bright side, I did manage to get some good deals!
CVS Shopping 3/24/12
- (3) Garnier Fructis styling products – 3/$10 + $3ECB* ($1MC*)
- Epsom Salts – $5.49
- Got2B styling product – $3.99 ($3MC)
- (3) Mitchum Deodorant – $1.99/each (three $1 MCs)
- Colgate Optic White toothpaste – $3.49 + $2ECB ($1MC)
- Schick Hydro Razor – $9.19 + $4EBC ($2MC)
- Biore Nose Strips & Facial Cleanser – Get $5ECB wyb 2 (BOGO* coupon)
Total Amount Spent = 22.01. Total Extra Bucks Made on This Purchase = $14ECB
I can’t wait to try out the Epsom Salts next time I take a bath and see if they help my feet. They’re obviously not going to make any lasting differences, but I hope that they will help reduce the pain at least a little bit. Any relief would be appreciated!
*ECB = Extra Care Bucks (see here for more details). WYB = “when you buy”. BOGO = “buy one get one free”. MC = Manufacturer coupon (found in your local Sunday paper and weekly Redplum flyers). CVS coupon = They print out on your receipt after you buy something, or you can print different ones from the Instant Coupon Printer located in all stores. Printed MCs = You can print coupons from sites like Coupons.comand CouponNetwork.com from your home.
Hi! Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. I'm Miranda, I love books, and I'm more than a little bit obsessed with goats.
I recently graduated with a degree in English from the University of Rhode Island and now I'm working as an editorial assistant at a publishing company, which is pretty much my dream job!
Oh yeah, and I'm also handicapped. But I'm not letting that stop me from doing what I love! Here's what you'll find on my blog -- tons of awesome recipes, stories about my relationship, details on my in-progress weight loss, and so much more! 
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t even tell you how offensive this post is. You are an insensitive bitch. You can’t just call someone mentally challenged. Try thinking of someone other than yourself for fifteen seconds, you conceited little shrew.
I can understand if you have a problem with me as a person – we all have people we don’t like. But it’s not okay to take it out like this.
Of course I can call somebody mentally challenged… he WAS mentally challenged. That’s not a derogatory phrase. CVS is constantly working to help the mentally challenged community by giving them jobs, and I totally respect that. At my old job, I even spent a lot of time helping out with a local organization that let mentally challenged kids come to CVS and give us a hand with tasks like organizing the products on the shelves and wiping down the counters. I loved this organization because it really helped these kids get ready for the jobs they’d be doing in the future.
My intention wasn’t to be insensitive to the cashier at all in this post (and I don’t think I was) – I completely understand how hard he probably works, considering I’ve been in his EXACT position. I was more upset at the manager for not either (a) coming down right away to help him or (b) putting somebody else on at the same time as him, in case he needed help.
I also don’t appreciate the swearing in your comment. I don’t like to delete comments, because I think that everybody has a right to say what they want – but I will delete any further comments if you continue to use language that might offend some of my readers.
Really? She said mentally challenged not retarded. Did she say “omg these damn retards should all die”?
Also if you are going to call someone a bitch on their own blog use you’re own name at least.
Mentally challenged people shouldn’t be given jobs when they may have to do simple math or things they may not be capable of doing without someone around to help in case. That’s like hiring a 100 pound high school freshmen to do heavy construction work, or hire a super out of shape person to train people at the gym. I find it hilarious the manager couldn’t figure out that 25% of 25$ wasn’t $6.25 off the top of her head though.
Obviously meant your not you’re because that would make zero sense.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that using the phrase “mentally challenged” is actually acceptable in certain contexts; still, you absolutely cannot use it while complaining about someone being “slow” or not understanding what’s going on. It is derogatory, and I am annoyed that you would suggest otherwise, particularly given your lack of experience in the area. I have worked professionally in the mental health field and with individuals who have developmental disabilities, and I can say without any doubt that your post was offensive. The fact that you would argue otherwise further demonstrates your ignorance. I typically wouldn’t swear publicly at a post, but yours was so blatantly moronic that it didn’t merit a more sophisticated response. This blog may have begun as a way for you to share stories about your life, but it has turned into a desperate cry for the attention you obviously do not get in your “real” life.
In other news, the phrase “mentally challenged kids” is considered very politically incorrect- go look it up. If you’re going to try to sound smart and reasonable, do a little research so you don’t come off as such an idiot.
I never said that the cashier was slow or not understanding what was going on. I wasn’t using “mentally challenged” to describe his actions, only his person. When I said, “my cashier unfortunately didn’t know what he was doing,” I meant that he didn’t know what to do with the coupon, because he probably hadn’t been working there very long. At one point, I was probably in the same exact circumstance as him when I was new at CVS, and would have also described myself as “not knowing what was going on” in that situation. In no way was that about his being mentally challenged, because I have no way of knowing whether or not he has problems with math or if he has trouble with coupons. I would never making that assumption, but I’m not surprised you reached that conclusion because you’re obviously out to get me. I fully believe that my post wasn’t offensive, and I fully stand behind it. I was complaining about the lack of management in the store, not about the mentally challenged cashier. And that is completely obvious in the post.
I’m sorry if I offended anybody by using the phrase “mentally challenged kids,” but I honestly don’t know what else I should call children who are mentally challenged. When you Google that phrase, nothing about political correctness comes up, so I’m really not sure where you’re getting your information. You’ve worked professionally with the mentally challenged, but so have I, and I would know if it were truly a problem.
If you have trouble understanding my points or don’t agree with my opinions, then please stop reading my blog. I honestly could care less about what you think, because I know that I’m not being offensive. If I was… there would be way more people complaining about it than just you. I truly believe you just scroll through my blog searching for any little thing you could nitpick.
I write this blog because I want to share recipes, with a little bit of my life thrown in as well. I like to cook, and this is a way to interact with other chefs and learn a little bit about each other’s lives. Sure, sometimes I use this blog to rant a little bit. But that is NOT the primary focus of my blog, and I’m insulted that you’re pretending like it is. Everybody deserves to rant, and this is where I choose to do it. If you disagree with my choice, that’s your problem – not mine.
I highly encourage you to stop reading my blog and stop commenting. You obviously have a huge problem with me, and your comments are directed very personally at my character. I really don’t appreciate anything you say, and I’m only posting the comments because of blog etiquette. I’m not going to waste any more time scrutinizing myself trying to figure out how I could have so royally pissed you off. If you continue to comment, I will block your IP address. I’m no longer interesting in allowing somebody to comment who clearly doesn’t understand how much these comments affect me.
Retard was acceptable until people bastardized the word to mean an insult.
Mentally challenged was perfectly acceptable until PC obsessed nuts focued on it when “challenged” became a joke of a word. Aka someone who was short but not a dwarf was “vertically challenged”.
Retarded to disabled to challenged to having. Basically anything besides retarded is fine except around psychopaths with nothing better to do but cry about political correctness. I’m betting you are super fat and are offended when people use the medical term obese instead of “person that happens to have an excessive amount of weight for their bodily frame”. Seriously get a life, I highly doubt you have worked anywhere beyond flipping burgers at a fast food joint or you’d have something better to do than troll a small blog with bitchy comments for no real reason.
Also, I just want to be perfectly clear and say that I know EXACTLY who you are. So don’t think you’re hiding behind these cowardly fake names.