Special Needs

My little brother Cade served his mission in Brazil. I was going to school at Utah State while he was gone and wanted to send him a package for some holiday - like Christmas or his birthday. I don't remember the specific occasion, but I do remember that I had a deadline and I had to get the package out on a certain day to get to him in time. I also had to go to the dentist that day to get a couple cavities filled, so my mouth was completely numb.

After my dental appointment, I stopped at Fred Meyer to get some treats to put in the package. The funny thing is that Cade's favorite candy is rootbeer barrels. I couldn't find them in the candy aisle, so I tracked down an employee to ask her.

Have you ever tried to say "rootbeer barrels' when your mouth is numb? Let me just tell you how it went.

Me: "Hi, do you hab any rummmeer mawwels?"

Unlucky Fred Meyer employee: "I'm sorry. What?"

"Do   you    hab    any    roooomeeer    mmaaawels?"(very slow with lots of emphasis)

We went back and forth for a couple of minutes, then the poor girl asked, "Is there someone with you?" She totally thought I was a girl with special needs and shouldn't be out on my own. Awesome.

She eventually figured out what I needed and I made my purchase and was on my way. (It's funnier when I tell it in real life because I can mimic just how funny I sounded).

Please say 'rootbeer barrel' for me after your next trip to the dentist. I promise you'll laugh.

***

Oh, and speaking of Fred Meyer (did you know there are no such stores in Utah anymore? Sad!), I have been carrying around a small momento from them for the past 7 years. Yes, seven - oh wait, 7.5. I'm not crazy (well, at least not in this instance), it's just dang funny. Have a look:

I know that it's hard to see, but it's the best I could do. The receipt is from 6/21/03 - no joke. [Apparently, I was a little under the weather that day because I bought orange juice and a thermometer, oh, and 2 magazines (further down), and a misc gift. I wonder what that was].

Anyhoo, I guess Fred Meyer wanted to inform their customers on the sexual orientation of their cashiers.

How nice of them.

Hey, maybe that's why they were kicked out of Utah. They were just too liberal for all us conservative folk.