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Wait and see…

I don’t like waiting much, but I can handle it. What I can’t handle is when I am promised something and then I have to wait longer than promised for it.

A few examples:

This last Friday, my mother and I took Baby Boy to JC Penney’s portrait studio for his six week old pictures. (I still find it hard to believe that he is six weeks old.) Our appointment was at noon. We did not get in until 12:30, and didn’t leave until 1 pm. The studio was full of kids – little kids – waiting to have their pictures done. These parents were all thinking the same thing I was – get in before lunch and naptime.

Now, I used to work at this particular portrait studio years ago, and some of the people I used to work with are still there. I like to tell people who don’t know me that I used to work there, because it makes them more relaxed and gives me greater leverage asking for certain things. I also understand that taking pictures of kids never runs as smoothly as promised. I used to get parents who insisted that their two week old infant could smile for a photo because they “smiled yesterday, so he/she can do it.” Sorry, the baby’s not doing it right now, and I’ve got other babies out there waiting – I can’t spend a half-hour with yours. These appointments are supposed to be 10 minutes long each. They rarely are, unless the people being photographed can smile on command. So I have great empathy for the studio staff, but that still doesn’t make Baby Boy any happier while we waited. When we did get in, he took two great pictures and then gave up. That was fine with me – one good picture would have been fine with me. I go in with a specific list of sizes to get each time, and I just divide it up between poses if there is more than one good one. So they aren’t making more money off me just because my child was great in all the shots. I called the session after shot #3 where he clearly wasn’t happy, chose my pictures, paid and left. It shouldn’t have taken an hour, but it did.

I am also waiting longer than promised for replies from certain websites that I have purchased items from. Now, one is extremely well-known and reputable, but I have never ordered online from them before, so I’m not sure what their meaning of “receiving a confirmation email soon” is. And the other annoying thing is that even though I now have an online account, they do not have a place in the account for order history. I am certain that it will go through, but I would like my receipt, please!

The other website is less well-known and looks to be more mail-order like than not. They sent an email right away, but the follow-up email that was supposed to contain shipment dates has not yet come. I emailed them and now I’m waiting for a reply. They have until the end of business today to get back to me via email, and then I start calling – unfortunately, they don’t have an 800 number.

So, I don’t like this. But right now, Baby Boy is telling me that he hates waiting for his next meal. I guess I’d better not disappoint him and make him wait any longer.

Update: No sooner do I start feeding Baby Boy than UPS brings me a box from website #2. Hurray! Now I will not have to yell at anyone.

Update #2: Got my email receipt from website #1! I wonder if they knew I was complaining about them on my blog…

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