As much as I like WalMart in general, unless I have a very convincing reason to go there for pictures again, it ain’t happening.
A few days ago I called and made a portrait appointment for today at a WalMart fairly near us. We’ve had good pictures taken by the photographer there before and I didn’t want the stress of trying someone new right now. Well, I called back Tuesday and found out that the photographer I like wouldn’t be there today, so I figured if I was going to try someone new I might as well go to the WalMart closer to home.
For some reason, WalMart doesn’t include its portrait studio in the list of phone numbers in the phone book, so I called the main number. The lady there gave me the portrait studio number, so I hung up and called it. I talked to a nice enough gentleman who took my name and said there was an appointment available Thursday morning at 10:30. I took it, and he responded by saying, “Ok! See you tomorrow, then!” I responded, “No, no… not tomorrow. Tomorrow is Wednesday. I’m coming Thursday.” He paused, chuckled, and said, “Right. Thursday.” That was that.
As those of you with two very small children know, getting them ready for pictures is no walk in the park. I decided to dress them once we got there, but there was still the matter of gathering the many items I’d need there. We’d need the dresses, the tights, the shoes, the headbands (which I’ll come back to in a moment), the wash cloth for a last minute washing of little faces, hair brushes and combs, safety pins just in case, plus the normal diaper bag items including back up clothes and full sippy cups. This kind of trip always stresses me out because no matter how well I prepare I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Joel was meeting me there to help corral the kids for the actual pictures, but he couldn’t be here to help me get everything ready. We did ok, but I was a bit tense as I was driving over.
Before I go on, I have to mention the headbands. I couldn’t find anything that would work for my girls as far as head gear. I wanted something because Alexis’ hair especially is in one of those awkward stages where I just can’t seem to get it to look right on its own. It doesn’t help that it’s very fine and wispy, so it doesn’t really stay where you put it. Anyway, both of them have hair that won’t take barrettes yet for the most part because their hair is too thin. The barrettes just fall out. What I wanted to find was headbands that had black velvet bows on top. They’re wearing red velvet dresses, so I thought that would look nice, and it would be much easier than trying to find something that would match the red. I couldn’t find anything like what I was looking for, so my friend Wendy said, “Why don’t you make them?” Sure! Why not? So I ran to JoAnn Fabrics last night and bought a prepackaged yard of no-roll black elastic, a yard of black velvet ribbon, and a little package of little white rose “notions” so I could sew one in the middle of each bow. Keep in mind, this was just last night that I picked these things up.
The first issue was that the prepackaged “yard” of elastic was 35 in. long. 😛 This wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that when I measured my girls’ heads I found that Alexis’ was 18 1/2 in. and Branwen’s was 17 1/2 in. which meant I’d be using the whole yard. Grrr. At least it’s elastic. That ended up working out ok. The second issue was that the velvet ribbon was very difficult to work with. Velvet is a very slippery material. It would probably have been a good bit easier if I had known where my hot glue gun was, but I didn’t. Instead I was hand stitching everything. (The ribbon wouldn’t have looked right had it just been tied, so I had to make separate loops, sew them together, then sew another piece of ribbon around the middle.) It wouldn’t have been so bad if the silly middle piece would have stayed in place, but it wouldn’t. I think it took more than a half hour just to get those silly middle pieces sewn in place. 😛 All in all, they turned out pretty good, but we were up until almost 1 AM. (Joel tried to help me when I calmly stated that I was about to throw the whole thing in the trash.)
Now I think you have all the background. I’m driving to WalMart on very little sleep and having been somewhat stressed about gathering everything we needed. The girls were being pretty good, and Alexis was hyped about wearing her pretty dress and getting her picture taken.
Joel and I got to WalMart at about the same time, so he helped me get the girls out of the van and into the store. We headed for the portrait studio, and I thought it was kind-of odd that I saw another set of parents there preparing their kids for pictures. I thought maybe they were walk-ins… it was the only thing I could figure. I was starting to get a little paranoid, though, so I asked if they had an appointment. They said, “Yes. We have one at 10:30.” Sure enough, their name was in the book. Ours wasn’t.
You can imagine my emotional state at this point. The photographer basically said, “Hm. Odd. Sorry,” and left it at that. The other couple was also not very sympathetic, not that they could do much. I guess it just would have been nice to hear a kind word about the matter. Well, most likely they were thinking, “Hm. I’m glad it’s our name that’s in there.” I went over to the Customer Service desk to file a complaint, but the woman there very kindly told me that the Portrait area was a separate entity (which I suspected) and I’d have to call the 800 number to complain. She gave it to me. I proceeded to call them as we got the girls in the van.
When I called the number she gave me, I found that it was just an automated system helping you find your local studio. I hung up even more irritated and called Wendy who’s very organized and has had Emma’s pictures done there every year. She had the number for me and I tried again. I actually reached someone that time, but after hearing what happened they just kept saying the photographer should be able to fit us in since they say walk-ins are welcome. After she said this for the third time (I tried to explain that he had said he was booked and couldn’t take us at all this morning), I finally said, “Fine,” and hung up. We thought about going back in and insisting that we be seen, but by then Joel and I were pretty ticked off, we figured we’d also tick off the photographer and other clients, and our pictures would probably be rushed because of trying to fit us in between appointments. Instead, I got the number for The Picture People and called them. We have an appointment there Monday morning – and the very sweet and bubbly lady who talked to me assured me that she had written me in the book.
I would have saved money at WalMart, but it’s not worth the stress. There are three things I can think of that may have happened. The first is that perhaps the gentleman I spoke to was distracted before he had a chance to actually write my name down, and he forgot to write it. The second is that maybe he wrote it on the wrong day. The third is that the person I spoke to when I first called for the Portrait Studio number gave me a number for a studio in a different store. Whatever it was, it caused a lot of stress and I just don’t feel the need for that kind of stress again.
On a brighter note, Branwen said her first phrase today. 🙂 You’d think she was a little angel… her first word several months ago was “amen”, and now her first phrase was “pardon me”. 🙂 Oh well… she’s a good actress. 😉
Ok, now that I’ve vented, I should go. The roofers were supposedly coming today but they haven’t shown up yet. I’m thinking maybe I should call them and see if the date changed or something. I hope not. I was really hoping the roof would be fixed before the next rain and it’s supposed to rain in the next day or so.