*****************
Every new mother looks at those little coupons in her new Parenting magazine and thinks, "Sure, I'll just head over to JC Penney or Sears and get a cute little picture of baby." At this point you are trying to figure out when to schedule an appointment based upon the complicating factors such as feedings, naps, and generally happy versus cranky times of the day.
When you do schedule the appointment for this perfect time, the photo studio seems to be behind schedule, and your once perfect time is now forty minutes later and your once happy baby is....not so happy. No amount of waving tattered Elmo in front of baby's face or feigning a huge "ahhhchooo!" sneeze will make baby happy.
Somehow the photographer, who forgets to ask baby's name until half-way through the session, manages to get a few half smiley pictures because you the mom step in to save the day with a few big tricks to perk baby up.
Then here's the real torture -- they make you wait (up to 30 minutes at Penneys) to then view your pictures, which they enhance with all kinds of crazy finishes. And did I mention I'd just be happy with a great smile? No sepia tone needed for my lil' guy!
So you finally view the pics and you already know the ones you don't like without even having to do much looking, and somehow, a few pictures seem to be the contenders for a purchase. At this point baby is bored and screaming, and your nerves are so fried you wonder if they are going to pay YOU for this whole experience. And then you blindly select a pose in a moment of desperation to get outta dodge.
And wait! Your not done yet! At Penneys, they want you to schedule an appointment to pick up the pictures. Yes, an appointment to come by and pick up an envelope. As if I'm even going to remember at that appointment what I selected in a frenzied moment of post picture horror. And they recommend the best time for coming, which is guaranteed to be during baby's nap time, so you tell them you'll only come at "x" time -- I am the customer, right? So was an appointment REALLY needed? They want me to come back in so they can sell me on the "extras" the lab printed "just for me."
And somehow, like people say about childbirth, you forget how bad the experience was and you do it all over again for baby's next biggest milestone. Crazy what we will do for those $3.99 portrait sheets!
Their system is broken, just broken. Please let me just go home and view them online with my spouse and at about 10 pm later that night I'll place the order from the comfort of my home and you could even ship them to my house. Guess that'd be too easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment