Seriously? (An Introduction)

When I was living in Los Angeles, my sister would frequently visit me. One night while she was there, we decided to get pizza (and I use that term loosely, considering I'm from the NYC area.) We walked (taboo in LA) to a local pizza shop several blocks from my place. It had to be around 7pm - dinnertime. We were stunned when we were informed they were simply out of pizza. Seriously, how could a pizzeria run out of pizza??

More recently, I was craving ice cream. The local Carvel had closed - as had a nearby Baskin Robbins. I wasn't interested in Coldstone Creamery - so I wound up driving about 15-20 minutes to the next Baskin Robbins I could find. Upon my arrival, I ordered one of their ice cream shakes I had recently seen advertised on TV. They didn't have the ingredients to make it. I ordered again - this time a simple chocolate shake. Once again, they shook their heads. A coffee shake? No. Ice cream? No. The store management had simply not placed orders to restock - anything. They had been - and would be - out of ice cream for some time. An ice cream store out of ice cream. Seriously?

But, the truth of the matter is that many of these stores are not run by professionals. They're run by hourly employees and poorly paid store managers with minimal education and training. So, it shouldn't be all that shocking when their skill sets lead to the stores to situations like the ones I've described. What I do find shocking is the unprofessional behavior I witness daily - displayed by people presenting themselves as educated, experienced and refined professionals.

While I could ponder the reason behind these behaviors, and likely will at some point, I've decided to simply relay these absurd acts - that will likely have you commenting, "seriously?" While I will maintain the anonymity of the offenders, I promise you - these tales will all be true.