Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Thoughts on Boston and Bizarre Trip to Staples


Things I like about Boston so far:
1. Good seafood. I haven't enjoyed this as much as I will when I have some money to actually buy things, but just knowing it is there for the taking is nice. I still need to have my first lobster roll, but I have to admit being turned off by the copious amounts of mayo that seem to be a part of the deal.
2. 92.5 The River. I think this may be my favorite radio station ever. It seems to play a bit more obscure songs and a greater variety than XRT.
3. It is beautiful here. The trees, rolling hills, and town feel that even the suburbs have makes for a very idyllic setting.
4. The Bouris family. They have been so incredibly gracious in welcoming me into their home!

Things that humor me about Boston:
1. The accents. I know this is somewhat juvenile, but I do have to laugh (as you do in Northern MN or certain parts of Chicago) when you hear that thick accent complaining about this, that, or the other (usually the Red Sox/Patriots). Sometimes I think a thick regional accent is required for public workers, especially toll booth attendants.
2. The way people complain about the Red Sox. Listening to sports radio, you would think the Red Sox haven't won a World Series in 100 years or made the playoffs in the last 20. They're having one bad season and people completely flip out. They should spend some time in Minnesota were losing is a way of life. Then, any good season is that much better because we're so unused to the phenomenon of success.

Things I could live without:
1. The distance from Boston to Chicago and Minnesota.
2. apartment hunting/high rent. Is anyone looking to buy a kidney or other paired organ that I can live without? Call me.
3. traffic...obviously.
4. The Patriots. They are the Yankees of football who only care about the bottom line and winning. The way they operate and cut players is really corporate/gross.
5. No Chase banks. I don't love the idea of opening a Bank of America account.

I just got home from Staples where I had an interesting experience. I got the register and rung up, and my change came to 76 cents. She had run out of quarters and asked to get some from the manager, so I rummaged in my pocket and found a quarter saying, "Oh, I have a quarter," obviously thinking that she would take the quarter and give me 1.01 back in change. Nope. She thanks me, gives me 76 cents back in small change, and puts the single quarter in her till. Apparently this is my donation to Staples. This is weird on so many levels. First, why would I just give you a quarter? Second, do you think I'm dumb enough to think you just need one quarter to make change for the next however many customers you have? Third, shouldn't you reject customers' free money on the principle that you aren't a 501c3? And you really left me with no choice because am I really going to ask for the quarter back and try to explain all this? Man, that's 12 minutes of parking by the BU campus I just lost! Somehow, I'll soldier on.

Okay, I need to study some German. Later.

2 comments:

  1. I won't lie..before the cash register came, I was the girl who got confused at Wheel Fun Rentals when someone would give me more than enough change so that they got perfect change back.

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  2. 1. A good lobster roll will have limited mayo, if any at all, and isn't too hard to find. Let me know if you need assistance on this one.
    2. 92.5: The soundtrack of our lives! Love it!
    3. True, no need to overreact to one bad Red Sox season. But, I think it has less to do with this season's record and more to do with the fact that the organization seems to be in shambles. A bunch of sniveling, entitled players run by a completely dysfunctional front office. Who can get behind that?
    4. The Patriots, I hear you. But I wouldn't mind Belichick running the Red Sox for a week.
    5. Yeah, I didn't want BofA either. We opened an account with Citizens, so far so good.
    6. One more baseball thought: a good point I heard on the radio this week is if you want to root against money, this is the season to do it. Many of the high payroll teams are tanking: Boston, New York, LA, and I think Philly was the other one... And we thought money could buy you happiness (=wins). Silly us.

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