Snowstorms and Costco

It has started. The winter’s first snowstorm. They’re predicting 15 to 20 cm of snow. You’d think this is Montreal in January! And here I was, just last night saying to Mr. Jazz, on the way out the door for dinner at Chez Doval (sorry, it's just in French, but there's not much going on at their site anyway. Nevertheless, they have the best freaking chicken evah! Grilled over a charcoal fire, spiced just right... Mmmmm)... so yeah I was saying how great it was to be wearing shoes at this time of year. Famous last words. It’s nasty out there.

Just looked out the window, the now is falling UP! Does that mean it's leaving? And no, don't give me the whole wind current speech, I choose to believe by the end of the day the snow will all have gone back up to whence it came. So there.

On the way back from the cottage yesterday, Mr. Jazz and I stopped at Costco for a couple of things. I dunno if it’s the same at Costco everywhere, but they just started stocking furniture here in Montreal.

Now, we need a new dining room table at the apartment. Mr. Jazz though, seems to think the white melamine monstrosity sitting in the dining room is still serviceable, and so it is, but honestly it’s a nasty thing dating back to well, the days of white melamine furniture. So I’ve been looking at tables, just to get an idea of what’s out there.

While at Costco, I see a table that would be pretty much the right size. I call over Mr. Jazz. We’re looking at the thing, discussing its merits, not even a glimmer of an idea of perhaps, maybe, who knows, buying it, when Carole walks over to us.

Carole is a Costco employee. Carole’s job is to foist a higher level of membership upon us. Carole starts talking to us about the table. What does this have to do with foisting a higher membership level on us? Turns out nothing. However, the table was made in Japan; that the quality is not there, that we should buy Quebec; that buying furniture at Costco is evil and we should never, under any circumstances do it. Other products, no problem, but not furniture.**

Why not furniture you ask? Turns out Carole is also an employee of a Quebec owned furniture store. Turns out she’s promising to sell us furniture, quality furniture that will last 10 years (um, Carole, if my dining room table is gonna last only 10 years, I’ll stay with the nasty melamine monstrosity which is now 20 and unfortunately as solid as a rock, thanks very much). And she’ll give us a good price, and the furniture is Quebec built and, and, and... On and on she goes. At one point I asked her what her bosses at Costco would think of her spiel to the customers… She looks at me and utters a conspiratorial “shhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. And keeps on going. I felt like reporting her annoying self.

I’m pretty sure she does well as a salesperson at the furniture store. Once she has her hooks in them, people must buy from her just to shut her the fuck up.



** Now I’m all for buying local, but if there is a significant difference in price for the same quality, I might just go cheaper. ‘Cause I’m evil like that. And cheap like that. And ‘cause my itty bitty incredible shrinking dollar can only go so far, and me? I’ve got to stretch it just as far as it can go… Waddaya gonna do?