Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twelfth day of the month is "Complaint."
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Very minor gripes for today. For Christmas (yes! months ago!), Dr. BB's father gave us cash in the form of five $100 bills. Now, I mostly use cash for things like stopping at the coffee shop, buying ice cream at Frostee Freeze, and buying one head of kohlrabi at the Farmers' Market, so having $100 bills is not always super useful. We don't live near a physical branch for the bank we use, so I took my bills into a local bank recently to get them broken down into twenty dollar bills and I was told by two separate banks that they do not provide that service unless you have an account with the bank.
I find this rule frustrating.
Eventually I had to send Dr. BB to the ATM of our bank on campus to deposit the bills and then immediately do a withdrawal of the same amount. Do you know what the ATM gave us? More $100 bills. *huge sigh*
An additional small complaint I'd like to make has to do with Mother's Day cards. My husband's grandmother is still alive, which is decidedly NOT a complaint. The complaint is that my local Hallmark and Walgreen's only have cards for grandmothers that are from small children and most of them are addressed to "Grandma" or "Nana." Now, I don't know what your relationship is like with your spouse's grandparents, but mine is quite formal with Dr. BB's grandmother. I'm not sending her a card addressed to "Grandma" because that seems weird. Unfortunately for me, it seems like grown ass adults who are lucky enough to having living grandparents must send up sending some generic "Happy Mother's Day" card that is not actually addressed to anyone at all. Do better, Hallmark. Do better.
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| The ENTIRE grandmother section. |
What's a small gripe in your life?
the ATM gave you 100's LOLOLOL-- so weird. Ours around here are ONLY 20s, which is also really annoying. I think one on campus gives $5, but I never have time for the extra trip.
ReplyDeleteI guess we should just open a bank account at one of the nearest banks just for this type of situation, but it seems like such a pain! I don't know if I've ever been to an ATM that gives out $5. What a nice perk for that ATM!
DeleteHa... yes, it seems like a minor gripe, but actually you're stuck with money you can't use. It is an odd dilemma!
ReplyDeleteI HATE buying cards! Last week my husband went to visit his friend with ALS (who is not doing well... obviously) and I made a little gift bag for him and his wife, and wanted to include a card. "get well" wasn't the proper sentiment, so I tried the "thinking of you" category, and they were all terrible. "Hoping your day is filled with sunshine and smiles!"... no. Sometimes you just have to resort to a blank card with a pretty picture on the front.
I'll just wait until the next time I need to buy honey at the Farmers' Market and then use the large bill there. *sigh*
DeleteI think for an occasion like you speak of, a blank card where you can write something is the way to go. I just didn't want a blank card for this - I specifically wanted a Mother's Day card - but blank cards are definitely super useful. (Also, what a nice thing to do for your friends and I hope he's not in too much pain.)
Go for it and find a card calling her, Granny. 😇
ReplyDeleteUgh. That is not the relationship I have with her at all.
DeleteWe went through the card dilemma last month when a family friend was hospitalized for a psychiatric issue. Hallmark does not make a card for that!
ReplyDeleteNow look I'm never going to turn down money as a gift, but my other gripe is prepaid debit cards. It's hard to use the exact amount.
YES! It feels ridiculous to complain that someone gave us MONEY! But here I am.
DeleteAt least your ATM had some money in it. The one I go to is frequently devoid of cash, but only tells me this after I fuss around with my card and their prompts. I know what you mean about Mother's Day cards. I had a time finding one for my MIL. I refuse to send sentimental cards, so I was left with childish ones. There has to be a middle ground.
ReplyDeleteYou get me, Ally. I don't want the card to be sentimental/religious/cartoon-y. I guess that doesn't leave Hallmark with much to work with, but a simple "Happy Mother's Day, Grandmother" card with a flower on it wouldn't be too much to ask for, is it?
DeleteEnter the all-purpose blank card; you can customize it as you wish.
ReplyDeleteBanks have gotten ridiculous. Ours won't accept bulk coin unless it's rolled, and they do have an electric coin counter. I end up lugging our huge jar to the grocery store where there is a CoinStar machine. I have to pay a convenience fee (some small percentage), but I'll do it gladly. My time is far more valuable to me than to waste it rolling coins.
I actually disagree that an all-purpose blank card is suitable for this occasion. I wanted it to be a specifically Mother's Day card. I was able to get one that wasn't addressed to any particular person, but it still seems generic and I'm honestly seething a little bit about it, even though it's been in the mail for days now. LOL. I can hold a grudge.
DeleteBulk coins are the worst! I'm so sorry you have to go through the hassle of taking it to the grocery store!
I'm also a big fan of blank cards! Some specialty stores have VERY specific and hilarious (or sweet/kind cards) but it's like finding a needle in a haystack and I'm not a big card sender in general, so I mostly opt for generic cards without any greeting inside.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I hate that rule; banks locally do the same thing, except one branch in our town that WILL break down bills into coins/smaller bills and I love them for doing so. Our bank branch is about 15 minutes away and just not convenient as we're never headed in that direction. In general $100s are my least favourite; even $20s tend to irk me; bring on the $10s and $5s which are more universally helpful, I find, for the small cash-only purchases I tend to make.
I have a whole box of blank cards, but I really wanted to send a Mother's Day card in particular, so it didn't seem so generic. It did turn out to be generic anyway, but I did the best I could.
DeleteI had a giggle about your $100 bill issue; what a good issue to have!
ReplyDeleteWeird about the Grandmother Cards...someone should remedy that.
Me gripe? Never. 😳😜
I do feel silly griping about someone giving us money. It seems ungrateful, but I swear it's not. I just want to be able to USE it.
DeleteBlank cards! My small gripe right now?... Students not doing work.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's gripe right now is grading, so I'm going to quietly leave all teachers alone for the next three weeks.
DeleteI literally laughed out loud when I read the ATM gave you $100 bills in exchange for your deposit of $100 bills. SO FRUSTRATING!
ReplyDeleteCards. Sigh. The greeting card industry has both WAY too many options and FAR too few. My daughter's grandmothers have non-traditional names (like Bam-Bam and Gigi or whatever) so there are never cards that are just right. A few years ago, there was one card that came with stickers so you could choose -- Nana, Grammy, Granny, etc. And they had a blank sticker, too, so she could write the appropriate name on it. That was genius!!! I wish they did that every year. I also wish they had cards for mothers-in-law, because none of the messaging for mothers is really appropriate for a mother-in-law -- she didn't raise me, she isn't my best friend, I haven't learned how to be a mother from her. But I would still like to get her a card!
There was a Mother's Day card with the stickers at Hallmark! Grandmother was not one of the stickers! Ha! I guess I could have gotten that and just written Grandmother on there.
DeleteI never thought about the MIL thing because I make my husband sign all cards to his family members first, so it's clear I'm the add-on. I think all the in-law relationships are very challenging and I do not envy Hallmark for trying to figure it all out!
I feel you on both those small-ish gripes. I wish I had small gripes to share... all I can think of right now are big complaints against the universe.
ReplyDeleteHa! I have lots of big complaints, but I try to keep those limited to people who HAVE to listen to me gripe, not choose to!
DeleteDo you even know how happy it makes me that you're getting kohlrabi at the Farmers Market? A) it's hard to find most of the time and B) I am impressed that you know it and buy it. I usually get the question what it is and how to eat it. What's your favorite way to prepare it?
ReplyDeleteAlso yes to the frustrations of not being able to use a $100...
Kohlrabi is a very hardy plant, so farmers here use it in early spring AND then we also generally get a crop in early fall because they can withstand a frost or two, so we get it pretty regularly around these parts! I like to eat it raw or roast it with other root vegetables. I also sometimes include it in a slaw that I make, particularly in the fall, with celeriac and cabbage.
DeleteThe last card I gave my grandmother was a custom one I got on etsy, as good luck finding a Happy 105th birthday card from Hallmark--not that I blame them. I honestly don't think I sent her Mother's Day cards, though I expect my mother did.
ReplyDeleteMy mother likes snarky cards, so I don't rely on Hallmark for those, either. She loves the folding ones from Finch and Hare, so I keep going back to them. Will it let me add the link to this year's choice here?
https://finchandhare.com/products/you-are-awful?_pos=1&_psq=awful&_ss=e&_v=1.0
I don't think my husband's grandmother would appreciate the humor of Finch and Hare, but I think they're pretty funny!
DeleteI think it's so bizarre the atm gave you $100s back! That makes no sense to me!
ReplyDeleteHmm, a small gripe... construction. Definitely road construction. LOL
Road construction is a nightmare right now. I hear you on this one.
DeleteThat is very odd about the $100 bills from an ATM. I think mine gives us $20s but I'm not sure. I so very rarely get cash. Phil is kind of my ATM. Whenever our kids get cash for gifts, he takes it and adds it to his kitty of cash (which is somewhere in our house but I don't know where for certain). I so rarely use cash but when I need it, I just ask him and he generally has some to spare.
ReplyDeleteHm. Neither my husband nor I generally have cash, so the $100 bill problem is silly. At least we have something?
DeleteHow frustrating about the ATM! Ours does this useful thing where it tells you what denominations it's going to give you but gives you the option to change it. The only thing it doesn't give is ten-dollar bills, which is weird but not impactful.
ReplyDeleteWhen the kids were home they were our bank machines - if we needed money for the cleaning lady or anything they always had cash. It's been quite the adjustment not having that option.
I have a really bad sore on the side of my tongue which is making literally everything a misery at the moment, for silly gripes. So much salty water, yuck.
Oh, no! Mouth issues impact EVERYTHING in your life. Hopefully it heals ASAP.
DeleteMy theory about the ATM? It just gave you your 100s back. :) (My now-ex-MIL used to do this, too.) The thing about the bank literally 20 steps from my apartment not breaking large bills for non-customers bugs the heck out of me. It's money. Cash. Money. Why should it matter if I have an account there??? Gaaaahhh...
ReplyDeleteDo you think we got the same bills back? I can't remember if this was an ATM where we used an envelope or not, but I suspect you're probably right!
DeleteYes! Why can't they just break my $100 bill even if I don't have an account!? It builds goodwill and costs them virtually nothing (maybe a tiny bit of time for the cashier to do the transaction)!