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This Store Closure Really Surprised Me

Have you ever been surprised by a store that was closed at an odd time? 

This store closure really surprised me

Since forever it seems stores have kept hours that really suited most consumers. But it wasn’t always that way. 

When I was a kid there were no stores open on Sundays. And on holidays you had better have gassed up your car because there were no gas stations open either.

Times changed and slowly Sunday shopping became a regular thing. No one batted an eyelash when parking lots were filled on Sunday afternoons.

Since then stores have stayed open later and later into the evening. … Well, that was until the pandemic.

During the pandemic everyday life kind of shut down. You basically needed an appointment to purchase a few 2 by 4s from the hardware store.

When the pandemic ended, stores didn’t go back to the same hours they kept before the lockdowns. Most stores had routinely been open until 9 or sometimes 10 pm, but now 8 pm is more the rule for store closing. 

There have been a few times that I’ve been caught by this new pattern. I’ve shown up to a few box stores at 7:59 only to find out that they were locking up. 

There was also the time that I left my house at 8:01 thinking I had almost an hour to roam around Best Buy, only to find out that the lights were out and no one was home at 8:10 when I arrived.

Still, eight o’clock is sufficient for most shoppers to get what they need from a store.

But this doesn’t account for anomalies …

I went to college in Regina, Saskatchewan in the early 80’s. I remember a couple of times I needed to get something from a department store on a Thursday afternoon – nothing more normal than for a store to be open Thursday afternoons. 

But I discovered Regina shut down on Thursdays. There was no shopping other than convenience stores and gas stations. 

Thursday! …. Why Thursday? 

I never found the answer to that one. You would think stores would be on a roll, ramping up for the weekend shopping. Nope. They just shut down in the middle of the week. 

It was crazy to my way of thinking. 

And so was this week for me …

My wife, Lily, had mentioned to me that we should try a Chinese restaurant we’ve never been to before. She had read some good reviews. She hadn’t taken anything out of the freezer for dinner so I suggested that we try it that night. 

A couple of hours later we went online to look at their menu and choose what we wanted. Like Pavlov’s dogs, we probably spent five minutes salivating over the different dishes that were pictured on the menu. 

Finally we made our decision. We were just about to order when we read their hours of operation: Closed Wednesdays.

What? …. Who closes their store in the middle of the week like that? I’m sure even stores in Regina are now open throughout the week. 

What a disappointing blow. How then do you even recover to figure out what to eat? 

It was a poor second choice but luckily Five Guys was open on Wednesdays. 

Here’s the thing: We can be caught off guard from time to time in life. But there is a time we should never be caught off guard. That time is when we will meet Jesus face to face. No one knows when that will be, so the best way to not get caught is to start a relationship with Him now. Place your faith in Christ and, whenever the time comes, you will not face a closed sign. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When have you been surprised that something was closed at an inconvenient time?

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A Tale Of Contradictions

We are all supposed to practice social distancing right now, but there are lots of contradictions.

A Tale of Contradictions

The other day I needed something from a store … well, maybe “need” is too strong a word.

I’d ordered a part to help me livestream online, but when it was delivered I discovered that it didn’t come with a power source.

Do you remember commercials for kids’ toys years ago? At the end of the commercials the announcer would say, “batteries not included”. Well, it turns out I ordered a product like that. It ran on DC current or rechargeable batteries but came with neither.

I headed straight for a store that sold both.

The store was practicing social distancing – which I completely understood – but there were obvious contradictions. 

I was first asked to stand in a line outside the store, marked with tape every six feet. 

I happened to be the only one in the line and, judging by the number of cars in the lot, there were probably only about ten customers in the store. 

In front of me was a store employee, standing a good six feet from me. He informed me how my shopping experience was going to go.

First there would be no cash, no paper receipts and, when I did enter the store, I would have an advisor who would assist me with my shopping. 

Okay, that was fine. 

The employee asked me what I was looking for and when I told him, I got the impression that what I wanted wasn’t really worth his effort. 

He said the two employees in the store that could help me were both busy with customers, so I would have to wait. 

In the mean time, he asked me for details about what I wanted. When I told him I needed a battery, he looked it up on his phone and promptly exclaimed they did not have that battery in the store.  

Unfazed, I replied, “Then I need a power adapter.”  

He wanted to know more about the adaptor so I pulled out the user guide and read the specifications to him. 

He apparently didn’t believe me, so he entered my six-foot bubble and asked if he could have the guide. He gave it back after he’d touched it with both his hands.

Armed with information, he went inside the store and several minutes later emerged with a box and another employee.

This other employee also got inside the six-foot perimeter to ask me more questions. He also touched my guide and had his hands all over the product they brought out to me. 

Once I decided to purchase the adaptor – and the possible accompanying coronavirus all over it – we went inside the store to complete the purchase. 

I decided to pay with my watch since I wouldn’t have to touch anything. It worked perfectly. 

I was told they were going to email me the receipt – perfect! But I had to agree to that by selecting “yes” on the key pad – crazy! I couldn’t do that without touching the screen with my finger or picking up the attached pen to select “yes”. 

Are you kidding me? How many others had touched those things? 

Their measures were strict but not consistent. Their contradictions made me want to wash my hands immediately … but there was no sanitizer anywhere!

Here’s the thing: We can find contradictions everywhere in life. We contradict ourselves when we say people need to be tolerant, but then we are intolerant of those who don’t agree with us. We can’t get away from contradictions. But God never contradicts Himself. When you align your life with Him, you can be sure you won’t be disappointed. 

That’s Life! 

Paul

Question: What’s a contradiction that has bugged you lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Had To Do A Double Take Of The Hardware Store Ad

It’s becoming apparent that hardware stores need another season.

In athletics there are seasons for different sports, and sporting goods stores sell products related to the time of year a particular sport is in season.

Grocery stores sell food in season. With refrigeration it’s not as evident, but foods that are out of season in a region are more expensive, causing us to not buy them as often.

I eat grapefruit every morning but there is a time of year that one of my regular stores doesn’t sell them. And in other stores, the quality is often so poor that I tend not to purchase them.

You would think then it would be easy for hardware stores to find things to sell in season without running into other seasons. But this week I opened up some flyers and couldn’t believe what my local Lowes, Rona, and Home Depot were selling.

They were selling BBQs ahead of snowblowers!

They had big spreads of patio and deck furniture. They were featuring planters, shade umbrellas and artificial grass.

I can understand the grass because you could lay it down on top of the snow, and then place your new deck furniture on it.

It would be chilling out there but, if you had a gas fireplace on the deck, who knows? The wind might blow the flame and heat your way, keeping your core body temperature warm while your toes, hands and ears all broke off with frostbite!

You realize it’s February, and it’s Canada I’m living in – what in the world are these stores thinking of when they put out ads like this?

It’s clear they need another season of goods to sell.

There’s a Scotia Bank commercial here that talks about Canada having a 5th season, that season being hockey that runs all year long.

But really the hardware stores need a 5th season too. Even if the advertising got me ramped up to purchase some lawn furniture in February, do I really want to buy it only to have to find some place to store it for another two to three months?

I don’t think so.

What families are going to start parking their cars on the driveway instead of in the garage, scraping off the ice and snow, getting into freezing cold vehicles every day, just so they have somewhere to put their new deck loungers that they won’t be able to use until mid-May?

I’m all for having the stores change their focus leading into the next season, but this is ridiculous.

Maybe they should be selling little ice huts for BBQs. These huts could be like ice fishing huts, but instead of bringing out the auger, you place the BBQ in the center of it and sit around it, keeping warm while the steaks sear, telling stories of the big steer that got away.

I might get interested … but only when I can see some grass poking through the snow.

Here’s the thing: There are many things that want to take your attention away from the present, to sort of paint a preferred mini future for you. But there already is a preferred future that has been painted for us by God. It is life with Him through Christ, His Son. Don’t get sidetracked by the little things that glimmer for a while. Keep focussed on the future God promises.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What things distract you from your preferred future? Leave your comments below.