Have you ever gone to the store for one thing and left with something totally different?
That happened to me recently, let me explain.
For the “special people” who have granted me an interview, ultimately giving me the most valuable thing they possess: their time, I’ve been known to frame the finished piece and give it to them as a gift as a way to show my gratitude.
But it can’t just be any frame, it has to match the person to whom it’s given (the majority of my subjects have posed for or provided a photo to go along with their article) or during the course of the interview, I’ve gotten an inkling of their style and what they like.
There’s one other caveat though, it CAN’T be expensive. After all, I’m on a budget!
To that end, I was on the hunt for two frames. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted, so I called around to several of the local Walmart stores to make sure they had the items I was looking for in stock. (I don’t drive, and there’s nothing worse than paying to go someplace only to discover they don’t have what I’m looking for.)
At last, I FINALLY found the ones I wanted so I made arrangements to go and pick them up the next day. I was SO excited!
When I arrived I eagerly went to the aisle where the picture frames were located only to be disappointed. Although they’d told me the night before they had them in stock, they were nowhere to be found.
Frustrated and feeling like I’d wasted my time, I went back to customer service area to charge my phone and wait for my ride.
As I was sitting there waiting, another Walmart employee came up and began talking to the two employees working behind the counter.
He had a bunch of Peppermint Candy Cane Chapstick. He said no matter how much he reduced the price — he’d marked them down to 50 cents each — he was unable to sell them, so he was just going to throw it in the dumpster.
I immediately spoke up and said, “Now that’s a shame. I love that stuff!”
He told the cashier, “Just give them all to her for $3!”
I thanked him but I also told him that he just wasn’t promoting the product correctly.
He asked what I meant by that.
I said well, it was originally marketed as a Christmas item, right? Have you ever heard of Christmas in July? (This story took place in July.) A LOT of people like the refreshing scent of peppermint, and that little tingle is nice too.
I decided it would be easier to show him what I was talking about rather than just try to tell him, so that’s exactly what I did.
As lines were once again beginning to form, I began to show the Chapstick to a few of the women now waiting in line using all the techniques mentioned here and asking if anyone would like to buy one for just $1 each, making sure they knew what a GREAT deal it was at that price. (It’s currently available at Walgreens.com for $1.99, so that’s half price.)
Three women took me up on my offer!
Having made my money back, I left realizing that what I thought was a bad day turned out not to be so bad after all!
When I got home, I sat down to count just how to many tubes of Chapstick he’d dumped into that Walmart bag. Turns out there were 97 of them!
Now that’s what I call a sweet deal!
My granddaughter also loves Chapstick, and when she saw it she let me know she was taking half of them!
That’s ok, I think I have more than enough to share!