Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

On Saturday morning I dragged my daughter to the Isabella Fiore Warehouse Sale. Though at most sales woman are well behaved, I warned her that she may see a side of women she hadn’t seen before. Very aggressive shopping… and if the right circumstances present itself it can turn into a full on fight. (The best one I ever saw was at a store closing liquidation sale in Beverly Hills).

I arrived at 8:40am to a line of over 50 women. It was a two day sale, which to me translated into a lot of stock that would be on sale. There were several bags I really loved, but I wasn’t set on any one bag. My daughter was just along for the ride. At 9:05 the line was over 100 strong and they let all of us in. Oops.

We were in the middle of the group and when we walked thru the door the throng of aggressive shoppers had already cleaned most the shelves bare. Women were accidentally slamming into other women with arms loaded with dozens of bags. It was so crowded I couldn’t even get to the shelving. So I slowly scanned the room. Nothing thrilling for me, but then I couldn’t see 90 % of the stock because of the throng of obsessed shoppers. I knew I now had to wait till the sorting and trading started taking place.

My daughter, who at this pointed hated being there, wandered over to the small leather goods area and found a wallet she liked. Cute as it was, I am not buying a 12 year old an $80 wallet when I can’t even get her to use the wallet she has. She went to put it back and that was when they brought out half a dozen pirate leather makeup cases. She grabbed one and some large woman apparently slapped her hand, took it out of my daughters hand and told her it was hers.

Now, I didn’t see the incident or a full fight would have taken place. I won’t fight over a thing… ever, but if some chick thinks she can bully my daughter and grabbed things out of her hand, those are fighting circumstances. But by the time my daughter made it back to me, it was all over. Plus she didn’t get a good look at the woman who did it. I had nothing to go on.

By now the initial aggressive push had tempered and the sorting, putting back and trading had begun. I tried to get the bag I really wanted, a large black & white tooled framed doctor’s bag.  But the woman who grabbed it first loved it as much as I did and there was only one. I didn’t get any of the handbags that I originally wanted but I did walk away with a really nice, leopard print pony hair and leather bag for $292 that originally retailed at $695. I think the best way to work this sale is either be the very first in line (arrive at 7:00am ) or show up an hour after opening.

To ease my daughter’s day I took her to the Grove to visit the American Girl store after the Isabella Fiore sale. She got an outfit for one of her dolls. I then let her eat anything she wanted to at the Farmers Market… Sushi, lemonade and fudge.  Opps!  She had a stomach ache the rest of the day.

I go to the Doo Dah parade to laugh and watch an exercise in the ridiculous. I hadn’t been in years and decided at the last minute to go. But the good oldies were gone. No precision brief case drills, no lawn mower brigade … and my all time favorite the paparazzi newsmen. They did have the BBQ Hibachi guys throwing bits of Hot Dogs at the crowd, and a killer drum band from some local high school….which barely saved the day.

I am not sure when good old fashioned sarcastic fun became an opportunity for political activism. Along with all the typical silliness there was a great deal of political statements being made. “Vote for Obama”, “Impeach Bush”, “Impeach anyone”, “Make Marijuana legal” people along with “911 was a hoax” people. Okay, it’s a bit annoying, but I can live with that.

But now add the nearly naked women to the mix. That just ruined it for me.

Honestly, if I wanted to look at naked women in pasties, I would have hit a strip joint. If I wanted to go to a political rally, I would have. But I had two kids in tow and watched their stunned faces when a woman in a real g-string, spike heels, feather boa and scotch tape across her nipples hand out flyers over their heads to the crowd. When did this parade start needing to be PG 13 rated? Where was the smart originality I so loved years back?

I loved the Andy Baby for President and the guys dressed up as grandmas in electric scooters telling everyone to vote. The Church of the Stop Shopping guy was there. But the best thing was the Napping Brigade…. Hilarious! Synchronized pillows and napping, smack dab in the middle of the street.

The Doo Dah had many elements from Mardi Gras and the Gay Pride parade now which was fun, but had I known about some of the other stuff I would not have taken the kids. Don’t get me wrong, there was still some good fun, but not enough in a 2-hour parade to make me go back again.

Okay, after a day of last minute Christmas shopping, hubby just walked in the house, ticked off  and owing my daughter $3. What the….?

Apparently he got snaked on several parking spots at the Glendale Galleria, was cut in line when trying to pay, had people bumping into him knocking him over at the mall and eventually lost his cool and cussed… several times. Hence the $3 owed to my daughter.

Okay everyone, RELAX… Good manners don’t go out the door ‘cause you’re in a crazy holiday rush. How is it that in a season of good cheer we turn in to animals fighting for materialistic tidbits.

Stop it. If you waited till the last minute who’s fault is that?

I did have one chick push me out of the way when I was packing up my purse after paying for wrapping at Big Lots. I asked her to back off and wait and then I wished her a Merry Christmas.

Really what cause do you have to be so rude to people? Good manners can save horrible situations, stop wars and made friends out of enemies.

Honestly, the only person who has reason to be ticked off with me is the poor sales chick at restoration Hardware in Santa Monica. My girl friend Liz asked me if I liked a coffee table there as we walked through the store on Saturday. At first I said yes and then on closer inspection I noticed it was laminated and told her to pass, that it was junk and wouldn’t hold up to her dog and 12 year old son. The poor sales clerk didn’t know who I was and chirped in that it was solid wood. I went into my tirade on laminated pressboard or particle board when she went a bit ashen and left.

She has a reason to be ticked at me, I lost her a sale and was talking a little too loudly. But I always tell my friend Lizzie the truth. We’ve been friends since we were 7… really.
But I should have lowered my voice.

Years ago I accidentally snaked a parking spot from an older guy. He got really pissed at me and got out of his car to tell me off. I deserved it too. I was in the wrong, had not been paying attention and had behaved selfishly. I remember being really scared and embarrassed. I apologized, moved my car and gave him the spot. Later on that same day I was standing in line behind him at Nordstrom’s. He apologized for getting so nasty and let me pay ahead of him. We had a nice chat afterward. I’ve never forgotten how giving in turned a bad situation good.

So if you happen to be that poor sales lady at Restoration hardware, I am sorry I didn’t lower my voice.

So relax, be nice and have a merry restful and joy filled Christmas.