Part One:
While shopping today with Aaron and Cordy, a saleswoman stopped me as Cordy ran by and said this:
– Look at those curls! I have to know – are those curls all natural?
My inside voice responded:
– No, we enjoy using a hot curling iron on our toddler every day.
– No, she sleeps in curlers and a face mask every single night.
– It’s the latest trend – perms for toddlers!
– No, she’s wearing a wig so she can be just like Suri Cruise.
– Are you that stupid to ask if my not-quite-yet 2 yr. old’s curls are natural?
My outside voice, however, simply said:
– Yes, those are her curls.
Part Two:
Later in the evening, I realized I needed to buy pregnancy tests to be ready for testing this weekend if my period doesn’t show. So I ran out for a quick trip to Kroger (it’s a grocery store) to pick a pack of pregnancy tests and some bagels.
I wandered Kroger for 10 minutes, trying to figure out where the pregnancy tests were hiding. They weren’t in the spot I remembered them in by the pharmacy. Nor could I find the contraceptives (they usually go together – find one and you’ll find the other).
Turns out, this Kroger is no longer selling condoms and pregnancy tests on the shelves. They’ve been moved to behind the pharmacy counter, along with all those other controlled substances, like prescription drugs and Sudafed. And since it was past 9pm, the pharmacy was closed and locked up, giving me no access to the pregnancy tests. I don’t know if this is becoming standard at other Krogers, but needless to say, I was pissed off. (Oh, and for the record – the yeast infection treatments, also generally found near contraceptives and pregnancy tests, were still out in easy reach.)
What possible reason do you need to keep contraceptives and pregnancy tests behind the counter? Are they being abused? Are people using these to make meth also? Last I checked, you don’t need a prescription for condoms or pregnancy tests. Besides, isn’t after-hours the one time when people should have access to condoms?
Can you imagine some poor couple running into the store late at night, after a nice dinner and on their way home, to grab some condoms, only to find out that they’ll need to come back between the hours of 10am and 8pm in order to purchase them? And if they should decide to risk it and go without the condoms, they’ll also have to come back during working hours to find out if she might be pregnant.
So because of this inconvenience, I was forced to drive over to Wal-Mart instead. And it was redneck white-trash night at Wal-Mart (wait…that’s every night), so it was packed.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Okay, that sales lady was really stupid, like stupendously stupid.
God I hate stupidity.
I’ve had people ask me if my 18-mo old daughter’s red hair is natural. Like, yeah, I’m going to dye my baby’s hair. (can you imagine?) and yeah, we have her on the waiting list for lipo b/c that that baby fat’s gotta go…
OMG, I think I just grossed myself out
over tha past few weeks, we’ve had the same issue buying pregnancy tests. a year ago, it was all out on the shelf. but the past few weeks, all behind glass requiring a key or back behind the counter. i don’t get it.
That is the DUMBEST thing I’ve ever heard. Condoms should be in easy reach for people, not behind the counter! I can just see a teen coming in late at night trying to buy some condoms and, not finding any, ending up having un-safe sex. (By the way, I’m obviously against any teen having sex but they do it…like a lot….and they need to be able to get condoms.) Grrrrr.
Red neck/white trash night??? LOLOLOLOL!!!!! I had to make my hubby sit down and I read him that post!! It was soooo good!!
Oh, I forgot to add this:
My daughter is biracial, half black, half white. Obviously her hair is curly. I have people ask me all the time when they see my straight hair “where does she get all those curls from?”
Hello!? She’s half black!!! Where do you think???
I can’t believe they had the condoms and pregnancy tests locked up! Is this their way of keeping teens from having sex? If so, that’s so not going to work! Then they’ll be selling an abundance of pregnancy tests…
I can’t believe someone questioned if Cordy’s girls were natural?! (Loved your mental come backs).
And “hiding” the contraception and family planning stuff … makes no sense. It should be very accessible … unless there is some new meth manufacturing technique I am in the dark about.
Stupid stupid stupid indeed.
One of my girlfriends has the same problem with stupid questions being asked about her daughter’s hair. It’s the most gorgeous shade of dark red, so people always ask if it’s natural. Like you she usually replies “Yes” instead of “No, I color my two year olds hair with Nice and Easy #324. She hates it but it’s necessary for toddlers to look their very best these days.” Morons.
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I would send a letter to the store manager and say WTF? C’mon….
I love your response. I hope she realized how stupid her question was!
The store that i shop at keeps the freakin prego tests locked up after 8:00 too! What the hell? They can’t honestly think that we will get high on the tests do they? Isn’t that the reason they lock up cold medication? STUPID!
Condoms and pregnancy tests are the most often stolen items in pharmacies so I imagine it would be the same for grocery stores. That’s the ONLY reason I can gather for such stupidity.
Other than that, WHAT?! THAT’S NOT A PERM. You should have said it was and watched the woman’s face.
I’m surprised they leave the yeast infection treatments out. I remember when the Big Bear (Remember them?) right by campus had the yeast infection treatments behind the counter. That sucked. I know that condoms and pregnancy tests are frequently shoplifted items, and I agree that if a person is too embarrassed to buy condoms they shouldn’t be having sex, but I don’t think that most teenagers (or adults) would let something silly like lack of condoms stop them from having sex. On another note, I hate meth users, because know I have to shop during daylight hours for my sudafed. Don’t take away my sudafed!
Good luck this weekend! Here’s wishing you two pink lines!
What could someone possibly do with a pregnancy test? Seriously.
And as for those curls, if you had a boy with ringlets the comments would go something like this: “it’s too bad he’s not a girl with those beautiful curls.” Uh…yeah, I’m just so disappointed I have this silly curly haired boy…yeah.
We were just asked the “is it natural” question about my son’s hair. I honestly couldn’t come up with any smarter answer than, “Uh…yeah.” Then I got the fabulous follow up comment (mentioned by beth) of “too bad he’s a boy.”
Absolutely. I am incredibly disappointed my curly-haired beautiful child has a penis.
People definitely don’t think before they speak. As if all the comment you get when your pregnant aren’t enough you have then endur the stupidity with your kids.
I’ve never heard of locking up condoms and preggo tests, I guess they get stolen a lot. It is still pretty silly, nothing like being in the “mood” only to find out that it ain’t gonna happen.
I know why they’re all behind the counter now — can we say, “Blackwell’s campaign staff”? Stashing them behind the counter while the pharmacist wasn’t looking? To appease the religious right? What interesting timing…
How annoying!!!!
I actually had some one ask if I dyed my son’s hair blond who was barely one at the time. There are a lot of interesting people out there.
I hear there’s a big black market for preggo tests and condoms. And those undeground perm salons for toddlers are pretty hot right now, too!
I’ve been asked if I shave WonderBaby’s head. Because people do that, right? It couldn’t be that baby’s don’t have much hair, right?
Isnt it crazy, that they have to do that because people are stealing them.
They do that with baby formula too now. It is behind glass at the register. So when the baby was on formula I always had to wait to ask someone to get if for me.
Madness I tell you just pure madness.
Too funny. Love your blog.
Hope your test turns out the way you want it to!
Ahhhh, redneck white-trash night at Wal-Mart. I can’t think of a better night out.
Here’s for hoping you Pee the Positive!
I think the condoms and pregnancy tests are stolen a lot and that is why they are behind the counter.
But it still sucks.
Wow. If someone asked if Leah’s curls were real I’d be tempted to say something fresh too. lol. Oh, and I live in FL so you can just imagine how much every second of every day is redneck white trash day at Wal-Mart.
Yes, every night is white trash night at walmart, that’s for sure. The dollar store pregnancy tests are the best. Especially if you’re completely mental like me and want to take 8 of them.
Are those curls natural. No, lady, we shaved our poodle and attached the hair to our daughter’s head.
Condoms and pregnancy tests… High theft items. Did you take one of those tests yet, btw?
Very stupid, indeed.
I hear ya on the curls thing…OG (my 2 yr old) has great curls and folks always comment on her hair and how nice it is…but they are also dumb and ask if they are real!!! UGH
check her out:
http://www.ogmommy.blogspot.com
PS. Cordy is so cute!!!! 🙂
Our grocery store locks the pregnancy tests and condoms behind the service counter because I guess teenagers are stealing them. So if you need them, you have to ask the dumb 17 year old checkout person who does a Beavis laugh under his breath.
🙂
My cousin’s wife has dark skin, dark brown eyes and raven black hair. Their two boys are pale, blonde and have blue eyes. When they were still very young she had someone ask who’s children they were, assuming she was a babysitter.
I never thought about pregnancy tests and condoms being high theft items before. Hrm, there still should be a better way, but at least it makes more sense.
I lived in Korea for a few years and I would always be shocked to see toddlers with curly hair and streaky hair, and the streaks were generally coloured, like vibrant blue or pink…. So yeah they did perm the toddlers hair, and then they would have it chemically straightened a few months later. I would have little girls in my classes who had such damaged dry hair, and they were 4! Often out in public I would see younger children with curly hair too. I wonder how they kept them still to do it?
I just finished my pregnancy test run. I was all ready stressed out (missed period) and just found out I am in the “final round” for a job, my husband just moved for 5 month army training, and I am currently living with friends during the summer. This would be the worse time to get pregnant. I was in freak out mode, so I ran out the my favorite grocery store with a self check out line. I don’t like the idea of some kid (let alone some male kid) knowing about my missed periods or possible pregnancy. That’s why I wanted to go somewhere where I can handle it all myself. I got there and all of the tests and condoms were in little boxes. That would force me to go to through the checkout line so someone can unlock the little box for me. So stupid. Of course all of the checkout people were teenage guys, so I chose to run across the street to Walmart.
I would like to point out that Walmart is a horrible place to be during a possible unexpected pregnancy.
PS. I took the pregnancy test. Not pregnant. I plan on taking the others later….just in case 🙂