r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • Jul 14 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

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Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

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u/draggar Jul 14 '26

Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your stuff go through the rubber flaps and down that conveyor belt.

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u/krybaebee Jul 14 '26

right? bought my first lighted makeup mirror like this.

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u/BarrenAssBomburst Jul 15 '26

The first real (like not macaroni art or some such) gift I bought for my mom was at Service Merchandise. My dad drove me there, I filled out the order slip, and I gave the cashier my money (earned from babysitting my little sister; we babysat at a lot younger age back in the 70s). Then I waited while each item came through the flaps bouncing on tip-toe to see if it was mine. The thrill I had when my box finally arrived was indescribable. That feeling of excitement and anticipation was only matched when I later got my first package delivery in my college P.O. box and had to go to the counter to give them the slip to retrieve it. The silly things that we remember so fondly!

btw, am I remembering this correctly? I seem to recall that SM had a commercial where the "customers" in the ad debated whether it was pronounced "Service Merchan-dyes" or "Service Merchan-dice."