Let me just drop everything...

Good afternoon!

We all have people in our lives who demand our time and attention in the most unreasonable ways. You know what I mean.  I'm talking about the people who wait until the last minute and then demand you stop everything and help them finish something.  (Generally kids who "forget" school projects until about 9 PM on Sunday night...and it's due Monday morning.)   I'm ABSOLUTELY talking about the customer I just got off the phone with who was griping because we didn't ship him something he ordered right away, so he could fill an order for a customer who placed the order TWO WEEKS AGO!

Let me put that in a step by step logic...

1)  The customer orders a toy from the guy.

2)  The guy waits two weeks to place the order for the toy with me.

3)  Since the guy waited two weeks to place the order for the toy, he missed the deadline I have for the days I place the order with our suppliers.

4)  Since he missed the deadline, the customer of the guy will now have to wait about two weeks, closer to three really, to get the toy he wanted.

5)  The guy is yelling at me for this because his customer now has to wait longer.  Apparently he feels if he yells at me I will start crying and those tears will make the toy magically appear in his customer's hand.  I'm good, but I'm not the Quantum Leap guy, I can't bend the time/space continuum and get that toy here two weeks ago.  Also, I'm not Santa Claus, and if I were, he'd still have to wait because I only deliver one day a year.

Say it with me, my friends:  FAILURE TO PLAN ON YOUR PART DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN EMERGENCY ON MY PART.

And repeat after me: OH, LET ME JUST DROP EVERYTHING I'M DOING AND LISTEN TO YOUR PROBLEM.

And finally:  YOU CAN'T SCARE ME, BUDDY, I HAVE TEENAGERS.

My friends, this is a get-what-you-want-when-you-want-it-and-get-it-right-now world.  Thanks to the Internet, we can order something from pretty much anyplace on the planet and get it next day, provided we're willing to pay for it.  (The guy wasn't, BTW.)  It's okay that we have this ability to shop globally.  But there are still some things that simply cannot happen if you don't plan ahead.

Because you KNOW this woman's got hers!

1)  If you don't buy your ticket for the midnight screening of Harry Potter sooner rather than later, there won't be a ticket available for you to buy.  It won't matter that you're dressed in your finest Griffendor clothes, the muggle in the ticket booth has a finite number of tickets and if Lord Voldemort had to buy ahead, you probably should, too. And that goes for all you TwiHard fans, too.  Teams Edward and Jacob, you wanna see the movie at midnight?  Buy ahead. 

2)  ACT/SAT testing.  Yeah, sign up my friends, or you're going to wind up taking the ACT at a high school 50-100 miles away from home, if you're lucky. (Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything, OF COURSE...) 

3)  Call ahead seating for "family friendly" eateries.  While I happen to think this is a bit of a scam, I'm not ready to risk it.  I'm calling ahead and limiting the amount of time I spend sitting in the "wait area"  (which is ALWAYS about 10X too small for the number of the hungry sitting there waiting for a table like undead zombies..."FEED ME.........."FEEEEEEEEDDDDDD MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!")  You don't call ahead, you don't get to the head of the line. And if you don't get to the head of the line, be ready for them to be "out" of certain menu items.  Oh you wanted the special? Sorry, you should have gotten there earlier, or called ahead.  All that's left is calf liver and onions.  Enjoy!

4)  Camp sites.  Now, I don't camp all that often...okay, I haven't camped in 10 years.  But I know this:  If you don't book your campsite ahead they are going to put you in a spot between the bathrooms and the playground and you'll get no sleep OR they'll put you sixteen miles away from the bathrooms and you'll...well, just bring a big bucket, that's all I can say.

5) Rick Springfield meet and greets (OR ANY meet and greets with stars.)  I don't know much, but I know this:  If they say a limited number of people are getting in, it's going to be limited!  Wanna talk to Rick?  GET IN LINE EARLY!  (Okay, that was just for a select few of you out there, you know who you are.  We stood in line together, hoping against hope.  And some of you got a little testy and rude, didn't you?  Oh don't look away from me like that!)

Here's the biggie:

Doctor's offices are the exception, most of the time. There it's really first come, first serve unless you're super injured or sick. But, in honor of back to school, I have to bring up this one this:

PHYSICALS

Yes, if your child is in a school sport, they must have a physical at least every other year.  It must be done after April 1 and in time for school to start.  Ya know what the scheduling nurses LOVE?  They LOVE it when you wait until July 7 to schedule a physical for a sport that starts July 9.  Oh yes, they'll drop EVERYTHING and get you RIGHT IN.

Not that I know this from experience...