Thursday, February 26, 2009

Relief and Not Giving Up

So the owner of the building FINALLY came out to look at the water situation, took one look at what the plumber was doing and fired him. The plumber was mixing up the landscaping irrigation lines with the water lines for the building. WTF. The owner did a little fix on the water and it’s now back on. We’re all coffee’d up and empty bladdered.

Thank you all for your suggestions for my Lent question yesterday. The one that made me laugh the most was from Mickey. Give up TV? Seriously? Let me introduce myself. Hi, I’m The Big Girl and I love TV. Survivor, Top Chef, American Idol, Brothers and Sisters, Real Housewives of the OC, and Real Housewives of NYC, Project Runway etc… the thought of giving up TV made me break out into a cold sweat.

I’m still not really clear on exactly what I’m going to do, but I know I am not going to give up anything. I loved all the brilliant suggestions of doing something more rather than take away. Volunteer maybe? Maybe add more exercise into my day? Babysit a friends child once a week so the parents can play?

But in the mean time, here’s something ALL of you can do and please spread this suggestion along. When I get to a grocery store, I look around the parking lot for someone finishing up putting their bags away and then I then ask them if I can take their cart back for them. It’s a small thing, but I tell you I get the BEST reactions. People are so grateful, especially for people with kids, who either have to leave their kids alone in the car or drag them to a cart drop off. This small little gesture is easy, and I promise, it makes a big impact. Go ahead, give it a try.

7 comments:

Tina said...

So happy to hear you have your water back!

I do that shopping cart thing all of the time and recently someone actually did for me! I would say I get one back for every 20 that I do. I could have hugged that woman.

I'm with you on the TV thing too. I watch TV 2-3 hours a day and it's probably the only thing I do all day where I'm truly relaxed. I work hard, drive far, work out and then melt in a puddle on the sofa with my dinner, the remote, the husband and the dogs. HEAVEN! :)

M said...

LOL I couldnt give up t.v. either so I dont blame you :)

I love the cart suggestion! I will have to try that sometime this week!

Anonymous said...

Aw thats a sweet idea about the grocery store. I like doing little things like that for people- little things count for SO much!

And hurray about the water, kinda funny that the owner knew exactly what to do...

Unknown said...

I have been doing the shopping cart thing whenever I'm sans kids since someone did it for me when I had my first baby 9 years ago. I'm still waiting for it to happen a second time.

Maybe if enough people pass this along, it'll happen.

I don't watch as much tv as you, but what I do watch - I am NOT giving up! No way.

Hanlie said...

When our decoder broke in November, we decided not to replace it and just live without TV. We have always been planning to raise our kids without TV (we want to do Waldorf education), so we just started earlier! We do watch DVD's from time to time, but in all honesty, I don't miss TV AT ALL! My in-laws have been TV-free for years...

I'm glad your water is back on!

I like the cart idea, but unfortunately I can't do it here... We have these informal parking guards all over the place, showing you where to park, when to reverse and guarding your car while you shop. They also descend on you the minute you leave the shop with your cart, push your cart to the car and, pack the groceries in the car and return the cart. All for a tip. They can be annoying, but this is Africa and everyone has to make a living! It just gets expensive when you go to a few places per day...

Teresa said...

The TV thing would be difficult for me too. But in all honesty it would probably be the for the best. But I still couldn't do it. LOL I am one of very few people in my area that actually put my buggy in it's rightful place. Most everyone her, leave it right where they unloaded it. I always try to help people that need the extra help, it makes me feel good about myself.

Anonymous said...

Your cart thing is so nice. I live in the midwest and I remember when I had my baby I was trying to put away groceries and had baby with me and this father was walking by with his son just as I finished up. His son offered to take it without Dad's prompting and I could see how proud his Dad was that he was raising such a thoughtful young man.

BTW I gave up soda. Yeah!