Oh, grandfather clock...
So my parents are in the Apostle Islands for their 35th wedding anniversary and my other two aunts are in Florida this week. So, this leaves my 94 year old grandfather all alone for the whole week. He was getting really lonely (this was only Tuesday, mind you)so I went over to keep him company. We went out to lunch and he likes to wander around Wal-Mart,which is fine until he gets it in his head that he must have this 80 dollar grandfather clock in the furniture department. I could hear my aunts scolding me for letting him purchase a beheamuth of a clock for what costs probably half of his monthly pension, but I just couldn't talk him out of it. Next thing I know, a big burly stockman named Dan is helping us to the car with an 80 dollar grandfather clock!
When we got home, he looked like a little boy at Christmas as he unwrapped his new toy from the poorly packed box. We nearly get the whole heavy damn thing set up when we see the glass door is broken in two places! Grumph! We had to pack the whole thing back up while my grandpa is whining about his consistent bad luck in life. We stuff the box in the trunk and are ready to go back to good old Wally World for an even exchange when good ol' Grandpa D. misplaces the receipt! For the next half hour he walked around damning the whole world for his bad luck. I try to call the local Wal-Mart trying to explain my situation as I get put on hold and try to explain the situation yet again with some customer service associate who clearly spoke little english. I was so pissed off by then, I told grandpa to get in the car. He kept insisting that they won't exchange the grandfather clock without the receipt. I told him that they'd take it back if it's the last thing I do and I'll track down the stockman who put it in our car if I have to. After waiting in line for several minutes, we're told that they'd exchange it without a receipt but, they were out of grandfather clocks and won't have any in till Christmas. At this point, I was at my wits end. I fussed out loud and thank God and half competent manager heard me and said their was one more left in the clearance aisle. So we FINALLY get the non-broken grandfather clock home. After twenty minutes of me ratcheting the thing together that grandfather clock was whizzing, wirring, chiming and working exactly like it was meant to. My grandpa spent several minutes just staring at it and saying "Man that's impressive, isn't it?"
So, it was a really long day, but it was so rewarding. Turns out my grandpa has always wanted a grandfather clock. When he was a kid, he was one of eleven kids and they couldn't afford shoes for everyone let alone an grandfather clock. When he came back from the war and got a job at the factory, he was too strapped for cash providing for his four daughters to buy such an extravagant item. As he and my grandma grew older he'd bring up getting a grandfather clock. She'd always argue that they didn't need one and it would be too big and loud. Well, his daughters have grown (and are gone this week) and grandma passed in May, so he had nobody to tell him he didn't deserve such a novelty item as a grandfather clock. He said he would love to lie in bed in the morning and listen to the time tick away and hear the hour bell chime. I was so glad I could be a part of making my grandpa's small wish come true. He told me if my mom and aunts didn't like the grandfather clock, they can stuff it.
When we got home, he looked like a little boy at Christmas as he unwrapped his new toy from the poorly packed box. We nearly get the whole heavy damn thing set up when we see the glass door is broken in two places! Grumph! We had to pack the whole thing back up while my grandpa is whining about his consistent bad luck in life. We stuff the box in the trunk and are ready to go back to good old Wally World for an even exchange when good ol' Grandpa D. misplaces the receipt! For the next half hour he walked around damning the whole world for his bad luck. I try to call the local Wal-Mart trying to explain my situation as I get put on hold and try to explain the situation yet again with some customer service associate who clearly spoke little english. I was so pissed off by then, I told grandpa to get in the car. He kept insisting that they won't exchange the grandfather clock without the receipt. I told him that they'd take it back if it's the last thing I do and I'll track down the stockman who put it in our car if I have to. After waiting in line for several minutes, we're told that they'd exchange it without a receipt but, they were out of grandfather clocks and won't have any in till Christmas. At this point, I was at my wits end. I fussed out loud and thank God and half competent manager heard me and said their was one more left in the clearance aisle. So we FINALLY get the non-broken grandfather clock home. After twenty minutes of me ratcheting the thing together that grandfather clock was whizzing, wirring, chiming and working exactly like it was meant to. My grandpa spent several minutes just staring at it and saying "Man that's impressive, isn't it?"
So, it was a really long day, but it was so rewarding. Turns out my grandpa has always wanted a grandfather clock. When he was a kid, he was one of eleven kids and they couldn't afford shoes for everyone let alone an grandfather clock. When he came back from the war and got a job at the factory, he was too strapped for cash providing for his four daughters to buy such an extravagant item. As he and my grandma grew older he'd bring up getting a grandfather clock. She'd always argue that they didn't need one and it would be too big and loud. Well, his daughters have grown (and are gone this week) and grandma passed in May, so he had nobody to tell him he didn't deserve such a novelty item as a grandfather clock. He said he would love to lie in bed in the morning and listen to the time tick away and hear the hour bell chime. I was so glad I could be a part of making my grandpa's small wish come true. He told me if my mom and aunts didn't like the grandfather clock, they can stuff it.