Disgusted by Poor Service at Papa Johns

Recently I placed an order at Papa John's Pizza and was totally offended by their service ethics. We as a family order pizza quite regularly.. way too often as a matter of fact but we do so. We usually eat at the less expensive places because face it the others cost way too much! We have tried Papa John's, Pizza Hut and Dominoes.. We each have a preference but Papa John won out because 1, it cost less and 2, they sold Diet Coke.. Their recent escapades have lost them our business, guess I will be going back to Pizza Hut.

A couple of weeks ago we placed an order at Papa John's the order included a 2 liter of Diet Coke. Now it was expensive for soda but they were delivering and I was out. When the order came the driver was very apologetic because they had run out of 2 liters of Diet Coke so they sent 3 20oz individual sodas.. Now you do the math... a 2 liter has 64 oz in it. I was needless to say shorted but what the heck I let it go.

The next week we once again placed an order this time it included two 2 liters of Diet Coke.. Once again the driver came along properly apologetic holding up his bag of 20 oz sodas. Fortunately for me... the bag only held 3 bottles, I had ordered two 2 liters so I sent him back.. Explaining that I expected 4 bottles as I should not be shorted because they ran out of soda. He came back a little later with 4 bottles.

Tonight I placed another order at for the same thing.. Low and behold they were once again out of Diet Coke and once again the driver came along properly apologetic with his 6 20 oz bottles. So once again I was shorted. I became fed up and told the driver, politely as it wasn't his fault the manager likes to cheat his customers, that Papa John's no longer had my business. That I refused to do business with a store that so lacked business ethics...

This irks me on two levels.... one they have been out of Diet Coke 2 liter bottles for over two weeks.. What is there a shortage of Diet Coke that I was unaware of? If they really have such problems could they not scoot over to Wal Mart (which is like 5 minutes away) and buy some.. I mean they have them on sale for 99cents there. The store could still make a ridiculous profit on their Diet Soda. The second reason it bothers me is because they refuse to understand that the customer should not be so inconvenienced.. I mean basic customer service would allow for the costumer to be over compensated not under. When I tried to call the store I was left on hold for well over 30 minutes.. How do they run a business when they don't take their phone calls and they short their customers?

Well it doesn't matter to me because I am no longer a customer

Who Am I??

I know so often we stand up look around and wonder not only how in the heck did we get there but who the heck are we.. There are those who are famous for reinventing themselves, most of the time we see celebrities who have mastered this. This is seen by society as a great asset, a means to longevity and an amazing talent in and of itself. But one has to wonder if all that reinventing makes them loose part of themselves and then one day they look in the mirror and the very essence of who and what they are is gone. Not even they recognize themselves.

Sometimes I feel that way, I wonder what steps I took that led me to be sitting here feeling alone and afraid. Alone because those that belong in my life I pushed away and those that I want there really don't belong. Alone because I am a social creature by nature I need to be surrounded by friends, family, etc.. somehow along the line I have become the social pariah.. you know the family joke... Oh I know I am loved, even liked but seriously who wants to just hang out with a failure now that isn't me being pitiful , sheesh I have failed in so very many endeavors that I may hold a record. Afraid, because if I stand up for who and what I am I may be alone.. oh wait, aren't I already alone? Well that makes like no sense at all.

When I was a kid I was Shauni, I was a smiling, laughing, musical child. I always had a song (usually a Girl Scout or Camp Song) in my heart. I heard laughter in the sorrows of my life. I liked Shauni, in general most people liked Shauni.. She was fun, athletic, smart, creative, assertive, strong in her personal belief.. of course she was also petrified of failing, never felt she was good enough and constantly felt unloved and overly emotional. Over the years I decided to eliminated Shauni's failings, I wanted her to be strong, independent, tough, not caring what others thought of her.

One of the steps I took was to start going by Shaughnessey (my given name.. yes it is my first name) I thought Shaughnessey said strong, unique, fearless, tough and oh yeah no one said Shaughnessey was a cute name. I became Shaughnessey but somehow I lost or squashed Shauni.. Shauni died a sad and lonely death. Her heart, her voice, her song was silenced. I never wrote, I never sang, I never cried. Oh there are those who spent a lifetime telling me to not be so sensitive but it took a lifetime for me to realize I am sensitive.. if I stop being so sensitive I amputate part of who I am. I close off a piece of my heart and face it God made me sensitive, God gave me my character traits He expected me to use them to Glorify Him..

One day I looked in the mirror and saw the person I had reinvented myself to be.. and not only did I know recognize myself, I didn't like the person I saw. She was bitter, angry, alone, demanding, selfish, self-centered and more than a little judgmental. That is so not who I am and certainly not who I want to be. I find after a lifetime I like Shauni way more than I like Shaughnessey.

I found myself on my knees begging forgiveness for the arrogance of my life and the total failure I had made of it. I finally just said what I had said once so long ago, I surrender all. Now Shaughnessey has a really hard time letting go, she has become a strong part of me and I have to ask God to teach me how to incorporate the good in Shaughnessey back into Shauni.

Don't get me wrong I don't want to turn back time.. I don't want to be teenage Shauni again, I mean shoot what woman on the face of the earth wants to go back to be a teenager, all those hormones and angst.. I want to be Shauni who learned her lesson, who incorporates God's grace in her heart, her life, her very essence. I want to be the Shauni who rejoices in the gifts she has been given, I have no plans to kick Shaughnessey by the wayside (I kinda like the name after all) but I want to once again hold that song in my heart..

When I started this blog I was slowly rambling in that direction, I mean Shauni is such a cute name... lol, it is funny how our perspectives change.. Maybe it should be called the evolution of Shauni, God's evolution not Darwin's cuz well God's makes so much more sense.

Anyway to answer my question... Who Am I??

I am God's child,
my mother's daughter
my children's mother
a blogist,
a poet,
a photographer
a sensitive soul
I am beloved...
I am Shaughnessey
I am Shauni evolved

Nice to meet you all

The Preakness

Today was The Preakness Race in Maryland. I love watching the race it is so exciting, so much enthusiasm, listening to the announcer who I still haven't figured out how they can figure out which horse is doing what. It is just great fun.

I know there are many who will go on about how it isn't a sport, well you try staying on something that large and going that fast and not call it a sport. I know there are some who call it abuse, maybe I disagree but there are those who have that opinion.

Me, I call it a great childhood memory. I went to Santa Anita Race Track pretty regularly with my grandma and my great-grandma and occasionally my mom. Just think four generations of women enjoying the track. Makes you giggle doesn't it? My Great-Grandma always bet on Willie Shoemaker if he was riding. My Grandma would get so frustrated with her.. "Mother, there are other jockeys just as good". You have to understand my Grandma to really appreciate the sentiment she was such a no nonsense woman until it came to dealing with my Great-Grandma.. guess some things never change, girls and their mothers.Now my mother was worse, she bet the horse who had the prettiest silks. Again so out of character, my mother is so very logic based and picking a horse by it's color? Grandma, she read the sheet, figured the odds and placed her bet. Me, I sorta just went on a feeling. Drove everyone nuts cuz I usually won. Honestly in my entire life I have never gone home from the track with less than I went with.

The Triple Crown was obviously something we would watch and yes back in the day Willie Shoemaker raced in it. So today was The Preakness, the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Sadly the Derby winner didn't win so no Triple Crown Winner again this year. Before the race the trainer was asked if he thought that his horse would win the triple crown, he smiled and said "well, He's the only one who can". Oh the wit.

I know this was just a babbling, a mixture of today and yesterday but sometimes it is fun to remember those snippets from your past and share them with others. Goodness knows the kids are tired of the stories..

A Sunday Past

Recently I was sitting in church and just enjoying the ambiance. I like church, I like the quiet moments beforehand, the music and the sermon. I feel being in church grounds me, gives me focus and fuels me for the upcoming week. While I was sitting there I started to think of why I liked church so much.

It dawned on me that one of the reasons I enjoyed church so much is the fantastic memories it held. When I was a kid I went to church with my grandparents, it was a small church hardly any members really a handful or two of families but it had a great Sunday school program and an even better vacation bible school. Every summer they would gather all the neighborhood kids and their friends and have day camp that celebrated Christ through games, songs and stories. And of course Bible verses, usually they held competitions for those who brought the most guests and memorized the most verses.. me being the competitive sort, well....

As I got older I switched to a church my friend recommended, it was fabulous a large congregation with music and great teen programs. This will always be the church of my heart. We had young youth directors and choir directors they got us. Soon church became the complete focus of my Sundays. I would be up for Sunday School at 9:30 and church at 11:00, each age group had their own place to sit. The junior high kids sat up front to the right. Had their own little "in" section I don't think it ever dawned on any of us that we were right there in front for the parents to keep an eye on and the Pastor to was able to make eye contact... hmm sneaky weren't they? As we aged and matured and made it to High School we sat in the balcony. I guess we could be trusted by that point.. who knows? In the evenings we had a 6:00 service that was mellower and more intimate then after church we would attend what we called an afterglow. This was time where we would get together in small groups usually by age and interact, sometimes they involved bible study and others we went to Polly's for Pie. It was just a way to spend more time together. To soak energize us for the week ahead.

I have such great memories of that church, I laugh because until I was 16 if I couldn't get a ride my parents would drive me and drop me off. Now you would think this would not be such a huge chore but well.. Sunday service was supposed to get out at noon, needless to say it NEVER did. Pastor would go on and then we would have an alter call, then of course we had to chat. I rarely got out of there before 12:45 1:00. This drove my dad absolutely nuts. Every time he would pick me up he would go on and on about wasting his time and buying the pastor a watch. To this day I swear one of the happiest days of my Dad's life was when I got my license and was able to drive myself to and from church. I don't think he ever minded handing me those car keys.. At least not on Sundays..

We had this fabulous youth choir that went on yearly trips, we went to the Navajo reservation one year, toured the East Coast one summer and the West the next and finally ended up in Hawaii. Now me being me I was very active. I loved everything about this place and these people but my favorite memory came years later. When I had moved to the Midwest and had come home for a visit. I went to church on Sunday Morning and sat in a pew. Of course I was a visitor then and hadn't been there for Over 10 years. It turns out the woman I sat next to recognized me, it was the Pastor's wife. She told me please make sure I stayed around because she was sure Pastor would want to say hello. That totally surprised me as I was never anyone special. We had a large congregation, my parents weren't active.. all I had ever been was another teenager to pass through those doors. No matter, when the alter call came I slipped out to get my kids then I was going to come back to the main Sanctuary when Pastor was free. Before I could get to children's section I heard my name being called and there was Pastor running through the halls of the church, making sure I didn't leave before he said hello. I don't think I ever told him how special he made me feel. How precious I felt.. Like I said I was no one special, just a girl who went to that church and yet both the pastor and his wife remembered me enough to want to say hello and welcome home.

I think that cemented my feelings about the importance of church in my life. I know I didn't attend for a few years and believe me I was not a happy camper. I felt hollow and left out. It is really nice to know after all these years I have found a place that gives me that same feeling. That place of peace and rejuvenation. I believe one can worship God anywhere and one should but church is a place of fellowship and community. A place where we can rest our weary souls and lean upon others. I think the number one failing people have with church is that they don't find the right place, the right group of people to interact with. I remember Pastor welcoming visitors to our church and saying "now if you don't feel comfortable here, don't stop coming to church, I have the numbers for the Baptist and Lutheran churches just down the block and I can get you any other one you want." To me that said, we are here to worship God and offer fellowship not win a popularity contest. I don't know why but that always made me feel at home.

I have no clue as to why I wanted to write this on Mother's day but there you have it....

Happy Mothers Day all you Moms out there

Poor Conan..... NOT

Call me unsympathetic but I am really tired of listening to how Conan O'Brien got the shaft. This spoiled child has lost all of my respect and I seriously doubt I will ever watch another of his shows again. The bottom line is the man wasn't doing the job his boss thought he should be doing so he got fired. It happened to a lot of us these past few years, some of us for much less obvious reasons. And frankly how many of us got a kazillion dollar severance package when we went. Most of us were lucky if our unemployment wasn't contested.

Conan was offered a job that he really didn't fit into. I mentioned this before he moved not that anyone did or should have listened to me. But face it folks there is a reason why Jay Leno has consistently won the late night wars. People like him, his humor is middle of the road. No snarky avant garde humor for him. No, just basic stuff that feeds to the masses an easy way to say good night. Now I am not saying Conan wasn't funny, I watched his show regularly and when he moved I watched it to but it was lacking. Conan didn't account for the fan base, he just assumed everyone would find him funny. Hello all you people out there we have more than the west and east coast to entertain.. we have an entire nation in between.. we have many more than teenagers and trendy 20 somethingers we have older people, people who enjoy a relaxing chuckle in the evening.. people who don't find the masturbating bear all that funny.

Arrogance is not attractive in our tv late show personality. Another reason I am fed up with the whiner is lets face it, the man went from college to writing on SNL and The Simpson's to late night comedy. He didn't spend a lifetime working for it, he has no clue what the masses like. He didn't have to walk into an empty room or a bomb in a crowd. Nope he had the keys to the kingdom handed to him. Jay Leno works darn hard for his livelihood, way harder than he needs to at this point and I am sure there are plenty who can give me a list of things wrong with him but he doesn't whine he works... Conan and his feelings of entitlement suck. In his latest interview he says he wouldn't have done this to Jay... wait a minute didn't he? Jay Leno did not ASK to leave the tonight show, no Conan was making noises about leaving late night and NBC cooked up this fiasco, initially it was Jay who was supposed to be out in the cold. Jay who at the time and ever since had the number one show but Conan wanted it and Conan got it.. Too bad so Sad it didn't work out for him.

Now Conan will land on his feet in an appropriate environment but it won't be the Tonight Show.. He doesn't have what the regulars want.. Jimmy Fallon may though. He gets that earnest simple humor even when he is being silly and late night appropriate.. but that is for way down the road. Until then I say Break a Leg Jay.. and if he keeps whining make it Conan's.. No not really. Conan enjoy the advantages you have and remember you have it WAY better than most.