self check-out? no thanks!

i am pleasantly surprised to report that the kids are doing a good job adjusting. i feared for them but the sad truth is that i am having a harder time than they are. what it boils down to is that the things that i complained about in brazil are now the things i miss. to make matters worse, i have become increasingly irritated with the things that i used to adore about the US.

let me illustrate this with an example from 2 recent shopping experiences:

old brazilian shopping pet peeve - the store employees that hound you from the moment you walk in looking for ways to help you and then hover over you while you browse just in case you need something. i would get so irritated and if i could have said it correctly in portuguese i would have said would you please get out of my face and let me shop in peace?! if i need something i will come find YOU!
situation 1 - running into the dollar store to buy blank dvds. i was a little surprised that i didnt get so much as a greeting when i entered, let alone a can i help you? but i continued walking through the store and quickly discovered that i didn't know where i was suppose to look for blank dvds. so i began looking around - surely there would be someone over my right shoulder waiting to help. hmmm. no. ok, maybe down the next isle. no. in my head i am shouting hellllooooo! isnt there anyone working here?? is it too much to ask to get a little help around here???!!! dan and i ended up going down every single cotton pickin' isle looking for those stupid discs - all in all about 10 minutes wasted for lack of good help!

old american good thing - being able to go to the grocery store and use the computerized deli order machine and self check-out lanes. this amounts to going to the grocery store filled with people and never having to actually interact with anyone.
situation 2: it was the noon hour and the regular check out lines were long at the local grocery store. of course "long" for my mom, whom i was shopping with, and "long" for me (after waiting and hour in brazil a time or two) are 2 different things. mom suggested going through the self check-out lane. i was only doing it to make her happy, after all she is the expert in getting things done quickly. well, that was a bad idea. i have never been so frustrated tying to scan my own groceries, set them on the belt so that they pass the sensor just right, look up all my own produce codes, etc. SIDE NOTE: if you don't scan and place your item on the belt fast enough you get yelled out by the computer, and the computer doesn't like little boys picking up previously scanned and placed items and putting them back on the belt. this is no lie - i had the helper lady come over at least 4 times to clear the computer of mistakes. i was humiliated. the lady waiting behind me said nothing but i could hear her thoughts: what business does this lady have using the fast lane, self check-out? she should have spared the rest of us this fiasco and used the real cashier check-out. why is she having such a hard time with this?
i repeatedly told my mother, who was substituting as my bagger, that this was a very bad idea. i asked the lady behind me why do people choose to use these lanes? she just looked at me smugly and shrugged . i told her that i had just come from brazil and that these new fangled contraptions just wouldn't fly there. in a country where you could go to some stores and never touch your merchandise until you walked out the door, self check-out just isn't in the immediate future. the last time i bought a pair of jeans i reached out to take the bag off the counter and the sales clerk said oh no, i will get that for you. let me walk you to the door. that being said they carried my bag for me as they accompanied me out of the store. how is that for service?


i am worried that i am being too critical. my aunt is helping me with my effort to keep a Godly perspective on the cultures i live within. of course there are annoying things about brazil and equally annoying things about the US - i just have to get used to appreciating the things i like about the culture i happen to be in and let the rest go. if i am still blogging next year it will be funny to read about the things i am so irritated about in brazil after leaving the good ole US.

keep watching :)