Confusion

I asked someone if I could borrow their brush the other day. They looked at me really confused - maybe it was because I have somewhat less hair than I used to have. But I actually wanted a sweeping brush to sweep out the vestibule at work. "Oh, you mean a broom" they said. Well, you could call it that but then some people might confuse that with the herbaceous shrub of the same name. I still struggle to make myself understood with the locals.

The same goes for communicating with the folks at Tom Thumb grocery store. I've been trying for about 5 years to convince them that, if they don't go to the expense and trouble of slicing their rather nice "Seven Grain Deli" bread, I would prefer it. I like to slice it myself, you see, with my rather efficient Wusthof bread knife. If I want a sandwich, I slice it thin, if I want toast I slice it thick. Either way, their slices are no good whatsoever for toast. I suggested to their corporate folks some time back that, in fact, I would use more bread slicing it myself and their sales would increase. For a while, a year or two even, they complied with my wishes and then I guess a new manager must have taken over and he or she followed the book. It confuses me why they can't do it, it's cheaper and easier and, during the time when they left some unsliced loaves on display, they always seemed to sell. So others must share my preference, too.

I despair.