Some Thoughts

I’ve decided that I’m going to start a recurring topic regarding the lack of parking ability in Great Falls. I’m talking about the fact that it seems that there is a higher proportion of people here who either cannot park their vehicles properly or just don’t care.

Now I realize I haven’t lived in that many places, especially compared to some of you out there. Just for the record, I’ve lived in Southern California (grew up there); Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lompoc, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and now Great Falls. Great Falls (and possibly the rest of Montana, I don’t know) seems to have the worst parkers of any place I’ve lived.

Not surprisingly many of these offenders drive large pickup trucks. (Whether or not they really NEED these huge vehicles is not really any of my business but may be a topic for another time nonetheless.) They don’t seem to understand the concept of staying inside the parking space. Perhaps if your vehicle can’t fit you should park elsewhere. No, your F350 is not a compact car.

Instead of me just talking about these offenders, I thought I’d throw up a couple pictures to illustrate my point. If one of these vehicles is yours……well, that’s just funny.

Forgive the quality of the pictures — I took them with my cell phone.

Example 1: So this one is good because I have to wonder if they really think they are important enough to park on a sidewalk. Clearly this person is injured in some way that they can’t park one or two rows further away (yah, right).

Example 2: Hmm, perhaps you vehicle is too large for that spot? Maybe some courtesy could prevail and you could park a little further away.

Example 3: This one isn’t nearly as bad as the others. Just a little alignment issue — perhaps some extra time taken to fix yourself?

I know this post comes across as pretty negative. But I assure you, everything I have typed here has been done with humor in mind. I do not hate these people — I am just blown away by the apparent selfishness involved.

I plan to continue this topic over time as I see more examples of other people’s parking abilities. Stay tuned…

For those of you who don’t know what that symbol means, I’ll translate => Pizza Plus Does Not Equal Customer Service.

Wow.

So I understand Pizza Plus isn’t at the top of the food chain when it comes to high-class restaurants. But all I wanted was a soda. That’s it.

My wife and I were out shopping and I was thirsty. We were in the mall so we headed over to Pizza Plus so I could get a drink. I get to the counter and order my drink and it comes to a buck something. I never carry cash on me only my credit cards. So I hand her my American Express card. Little did I know what a problem this was.

I’m guessing it is their policy to take cards because she didn’t say they were cash only or anything. When I hand her my card she says something to the effect of, “Oh my God, another credit card…you’ve got to be kidding me.” She then stomped off to Orange Julius to ring the card up over there. My wife and I looked at each other thinking this woman must be joking with her attitude.

She comes back to the counter and gives me the card over my shoulder with a, “Here ya go.” Very rude. She walks around the counter again and looks to her co-worker (while my wife and I are still standing there) and says something like, “If I have to run one more credit card….I’m not even kidding.” Of course, she said that with a terrible tone and a bad attitude.

I was absolutely shocked. I’m not usually one to pursue issues like these especially at fast food places. But I will be calling the manager after Christmas. If that does not go anywhere, I’ll go to regional or whatever it takes (if they have higher ups).

What the heck has customer service come to these days? When a customer hands you a credit card, you shouldn’t throw a temper tantrum. If the policy is to not accept credit cards then state that fact. This woman is the perfect example of what NOT to do when it comes to customer service. I’ve never been treated that poorly in such a blatant fashion.

My wife and I never eat there but you can be damn sure we won’t ever even consider it in the future.