By By MaryClaire Foster
With my last wedding of the year behind me, I am looking forward to spending some down time in Atmore.
Fall is my favorite season, but I must say it is making me very nostalgic for college.
This is my first fall not to be in Tuscaloosa, and it is hard not to reminisce.
During my sophomore through senior years, I always lived in the “game day” house. Within view of Bryant-Denny Stadium and having parking to spare, the two houses I lived in those three years were always overflowing with friends and family and food.
Oh, how I miss the food, and I guess my friends too. No, really though, leaving behind my friends has been the toughest part of moving away.
Being in Tuscaloosa, I have been apart from my family for years now and am used to not seeing them every week, but with my friends it’s hard to not see them every day.
I was lucky that in college my roommates and I were always close friends and still remain so.
In fact, the wedding I was in was that of my college roommate for three years.
The hardest part is missing out on events in my friends’ lives. Finding out one friend had completed her Certified Public Accountant test after they had already gone to celebrate was particularly disappointing.
You would think in this day of multiple means of communication it wouldn’t happen but as my friends and I are all new to the working world we all express the stress of balancing life and work.
Visiting everyone’s dually loathed and loved shopping destination Wal-Mart yesterday I found a worker who obviously didn’t even consider a differentiation between personal and professional much less a balance.
The entire time my boyfriend and I were waiting on her to retrieve the pictures he had developed she had the phone attached to her ear on a personal call. This is one of my biggest customer service pet peeves. Trying to conduct business someone while they’re on the phone in a completely unrelated matter is extremely frustrating.
I’ll admit I’ve made the mistake of being on my phone when I shouldn’t have but I have also made a conscious effort to not make this faux pas anymore.
To top it off, after requesting only a photo cd and negatives they had made prints and charged us for them. This was easily fixed and not a problem but the way it was handled, while, yes, she was still on the phone is what was again so frustrating.
Let me say I understand we didn’t pay for prints, but when she threw three rolls worth away instead of giving it to us I couldn’t get over what a waste it was.
Even after asking if she could just give it to us because they were getting thrown away anyway, they remained in the trash because we didn’t pay for it.
This is what kills me about corporate policies, the absolute wastefulness that come from them.
I must admit, before when I thought about not having such a store closer than 25 miles it made me a little anxious, but after this past experience, I’m glad to just be in good ole Atmore without all the nonsense.
MaryClaire Foster is news editor for the Atmore Advance. She can be reached at 368-2123 or via email at lifestyles@atmoreadvance.com