Traditions
We’re not much for returning or exchanging bought items in our house. For one, J rarely hangs on to a receipt. Mainly, though, it seems he would just rather gnaw off his arm than stand in line at Customer Service (sometimes, it’s hard to blame him). Even if that means having paid for something that’s damaged or broken, essentially throwing money out the window. Or in this case, someone else’s money.
My brother gave Jedi a ninja set for his birthday. Complete with electronic sword sounds! Shortly after opening, we noticed that the sounds didn’t work, even with brand new batteries. J looked things over for a minute, but the kids were anxious to play. They couldn’t have cared less about the sounds.
“Here’s the receipt so you can exchange it”, my brother offered.
“Nah, I’ll just fix it”, J said. I took the receipt anyway.
After my brother left, J took the base of the toy apart. He tinkered with things like only guys can do and found the problem. The positive wire was missing, or something? Electronic talk is like alien speak to me. I’m surprised I know enough to update my blog (which, by the way, has a new look!).
I can, however, understand whine and Jedi wouldn’t stop until the sword was back in his hand.
Suffice it to say, it was something that even an electronics whiz couldn’t fix without the missing pieces. Wires are kind of important, I understand that much. “Well, I guess we have to return it”, I said, secretly smirking.
Just as he was about to begrudgingly grab the receipt from my hand, Jedi interrupted. “No! I don’t want you to return it! I don’t care if it’s broken!” With that, a glint formed in J’s eye. And the tradition of hanging on to broken crap continues.
5 Responses
Hahaha.. We are the exact opposite in this house. Actually, I HATE returning things but my husband will buy things and then decide to return them later. I mostly hate returning things at Walmart because the lines are ALWAYS long, no matter what time of year it is. Everywhere else isn’t so bad.
Candace´s latest blog post: Nap time is a bust!
Haha, sounds like something that would happen in this house.
I worked in retail for 10 years, so I know how to make the return process as simple as possible, and I don’t mind it at all. Plus, I’m a cheapskate
But, my husband abhors returning stuff.
Beth in SF´s latest blog post: Robot Roll Call
You are probably better off without the sound anyway.
@Krista, Ha! Very true.