That WAS Easy!

Last night, when I arrived home from work, my brand new high schooler had a couple of school supply requests. So we had to zip over to Staples after dinner and pray that half the town wasn't also in the store. Full parking lot, but not a total disaster.

We were actually able to find what we needed, and when we got on the line it had stretched to the back of the store plus all the way down the back hallway to aisle 1 (a complete "ell" shape). If this weren't managed well, it would have taken us until bedtime to get out of there. Au contraire.

One gal was at the head of the line, directing people to one of eight different registers each time someone finished a transaction. She was cheerful and was greeting each customer personally, trying to keep people upbeat. About one third of the way back on the line, a team of two staffers was scanning and bagging people's orders, so that the transaction would go quickly once the customer arrived at the register. They too were friendly and positive.

Would you believe it only took us 15 minutes to work our way to the register, pay, and make it out the door? Even my son, who is often quick to point out the negative, was in awe over the smart and efficient management. This was BY FAR the best back to school shopping experience in the ten years I've been at it. Kudos to Staples. Thank you from a happy mom who was able to get home in plenty of time to make sure the three boys were showered and ready for bed, and to make the two Rosh Hashanah dishes I'd planned to knock off before my own bedtime (sweet potato casserole, noodle pudding).