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Yesterday at Walmart while my wife and I were restocking a bunch of baby supplies we walked past the car seat department. And noticed that the exact car seat we purchased a month ago had its own display. And was fully $80 cheaper than what we paid.
Do you think I can find the receipt? No, I cannot is the answer. I’ve been scouring the house for it, and I’ve found dozens upon dozens of receipts. Not the one I need. If I ever need to prove that I bought Imodium, I’m set.
The thing is, I was just talking to the church yesterday about how destructive and selfish an attitude of consumerism can be, trying to get as much as possible for as little as possible. Wanting to get everything we want for as little cost, as little investment as possible.
Stupid car seat ruined my day. I literally went through the Five Stages of Grief while walking the aisles of Walmart.
Denial: “That can’t be the same carseat. Look… I don’t think ours has the little thing that sticks out here. Isn’t ours a different shade of grey? Maybe they forgot to add a ‘1’ in front of the price.”
Anger: “This is ridiculous! If they can afford to sell it this cheap why was I paying so much a month ago? I bet they were laughing at us when we bought it!. I’m going to poop right in front of this display.”
Bargaining: “Please, I can show you my bank statement. I promise I just bought the thing. Come out to our car. It’s in the car right now… It looks brand new, except for a couple goldfish cracker crumbs. How about we split the difference?”
Depression: “Think of all the things we could have bought with the $80 we would have saved. How come nothing ever works out for us? Why does the universe plot against us?”
Acceptance: …
OK… evidently I have yet to reach the last stage because when Thea gets home for work I’m searching every inch of the car for that receipt.
This is what I actually said to the girl at customer service when she told me I needed a receipt:
“Walmart is literally breaking my heart. Literally. Do you want to listen to my heart? You can’t. It’s broken. Walmart broke it. I want to tell you that we’re never going to shop here again, but we all know that it’s not true. Because you’re Walmart. We’ll probably be back before the week is done.”