2011-01-07-Shopping Without Dropping
Seminars@Hadley
Shopping Without Dropping
Presented by Betty Huffman and Roni Sue Thompson
Moderated by Billy Brookshire
January 7, 2011
Billy Brookshire:
I’d like to welcome you all to Seminars@Hadley. My name is Billy Brookshire. I’ll be your moderator today. Today we’re going to talk about one of those subjects that is at the foremost of a lot of our minds, especially since we’re so close to the holidays, and that’s shopping. The topic today is Shopping Without Dropping.
To help us get a handle on this I have with me two avowed shopaholics. I don’t call them shopaholics, I call them shopping masters. I think they’re one stage beyond that shopaholic stage. They’ve got this process down. They know how to make use of all those shopping minutes.
With me here today are two fantastic folks – I can’t think of anybody better to cover this topic – Ms. Betty Huffman and Ms. Roni Sue Thompson. They’re going to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about shopping.
Betty Huffman:
Hopefully.
Billy Brookshire:
Or at least as much as we can make up, right, Betty?
Betty Huffman:
There you go.
Billy Brookshire:
So, what I’m going to do now is I’ve got some questions here. I’m going to start us off and we will have about 20 minutes at the end of the presentation where you guys can ask any question you want. As we’re going here, if you want to put questions in the chat room, that’s A-Okay also.
Okay, Betty and Roni Sue, what I’d like you guys to do to begin with is just introduce yourselves. Tell a little bit about how you became blind, a little bit about your professional experience, what you do for a living. These are tall orders, aren’t they?
I think maybe what we ought to start off with is what was your worst, absolute worst, shopping experience that you’ve ever had? I’ll let whoever start who wants to start.
Roni Sue Thompson:
My name is Roni Sue Thompson and I was born visually impaired. I’m not totally blind; I see out of one eye. 2500 is my acuity, so I’ve always been this way. I don’t have any professional shopping experience, per se, except that everybody has to do it.
What I do right now for my job that pays my bills is I work for the Department of State Health Services in the regulatory area in the enforcement unit. I enforce the environmental laws pertaining to asbestos, lead and mold. That’s what gives me the money to do my shopping.
What was my worst shopping experience? Oh, my. That would have to be Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve – Christmas Eve day. That was the absolute worst place, time, I’ve ever had. It was just the people and oh, it was a nightmare.
Betty Huffman:
I’m Betty Huffman. I was born preemie, the RLF, ROP thing. So, I think I had a little bit of vision up until age six and some light perception.
I went to work after graduating from UT for the Welfare Department – it was called the Welfare Department back then, now it’s Department of Human Services – as a protective social worker.
I did that, then went to work for the Commission for the Blind as a counselor, went into Coordinator of Consumer Affairs. That was a lot of fun. Then went to Advocacy as a rehabilitation specialist, went back to the Commission as a counselor, retired and worked with some older people in adjusting to blindness.
Shopping, well, I do it, too. I’m married. A lot of times I go with my husband, but he is an instructor for Seeing Eye and is gone a lot on the road, so I have a lot of time to go shopping by myself.
I’ve had some really interesting experiences. I am totally blind now and I don’t call myself a professional shopper, either. I’m just another blind person going out and doing shopping.
I think the worst experience I had was my sister and another blind person and I went shopping at a department store, a large one. We could not get any help. Our friend had some vision and she knocked over a bunch of glass perfume bottles. They fell on the floor and they broke and then, folks, we did get some attention. I think that was probably the worst shopping I’ve had.
Billy Brookshire:
Not necessarily the attention you wanted, right?
Betty Huffman:
Not necessarily. My sister was totally embarrassed because she can see and she was totally embarrassed.
Billy Brookshire:
Okay, you guys. Let’s break down this shopping experience and take it one step at a time here. From the top, before you ever go shopping, what kinds of things do you do to prepare?
Betty Huffman:
I’ll start this time. I think it’s really important to know, because if you take a cab or if you ride the bus, you certainly don’t want to go somewhere and find out they don’t have what you’re wanting.
I’ll give you an example. I’m hoping my husband is not listening to this because I wanted to go buy him for his birthday either an iPad or Kindle. Some very dear friends of mine, Don and Kevin – if you all are listening, thank you – helped me. We went on the Internet and looked to see who carried both of those things and if they were in stock.
It turned out that because of Christmas, nobody around here had the Kindle. They’re totally sold out. I called a friend of mine because I had a real busy day yesterday and I didn’t have a whole lot of time and I asked her to take me. She’s almost 80 years old.
We trotted off to the Domain to go find the Apple store. We got there and parking was hard to find. We went in and, thank goodness, I had planned ahead of time knowing what I wanted. The store was totally crowded.
We went in and they gave us a supervisor. I guess that’s what they do when you go in, you just get somebody. I told him what I wanted. We waited a little bit and then a salesperson came up and I got what I wanted.
Because we had planned and looked on the Internet to see where these things were, I was able to figure out exactly what I wanted to get and got it without too much hassle. I think planning is crucial for us just to save us money and time.
Roni Sue Thompson:
I would completely agree with that. Planning is important. You’ve got to know what it is you’re going to get. If it’s groceries, you need to make your list, or at least I do. Have your list.
If it’s a store I go to all the time, for example, H-E-B or Wal-Mart, I will actually organize my list, which is in a spreadsheet so I don’t have to retype it all the time. I will organize my list the way that the store aisles work so I don’t have to backtrack. It’s less likely I’m going to forget.
Transportation is a big thing. Am I just buying enough at the store that I can take the bus back and forth and I don’t have to mess with a cab?
Time of day for shopping is important. You probably don’t want to go, for example, to the supermarket at 5:00 in the afternoon when everybody and their child is getting off of work. You’re going to probably have less help, less room to move around and see. It’s going to busier and more stressful.
I always take into account where am I going? What am I looking for? What is possibly a better time of the day to do that, if I have a choice? Sometimes you don’t have choices; you’re stuck with what you’re stuck with.
The transportation thing is really important if you’re going to need to bring purchases home. How likely am I to get a cab? That’s another time of day thing, possibly, or can I make arrangements with a friend or family member who might be able to help and take that stress off?
Planning is key, making your list, thinking about is this the better time of day to do what I want to do, if you have a choice in it. You may not.
When you get to the store, if it’s the grocery store, try to stick to your list and go right up to customer service. In most places they do have that and it’s the best way to get help if you need it. What I’ve noticed, even in the department stores, is that they’re cutting back staff so much you don’t find people in the areas as you used to, so you’re less likely to run into someone who’s out there that can help you.
Billy Brookshire:
Thanks, Roni Sue. As part of the question, folks, and Roni Sue, you covered part of this, I still ask what if no one’s there to help you when you get there? We might talk about that a little later on unless one of you wants to hit that one right now.
Betty Huffman:
That’s a good question. Sue hit on that a lot, but it’s important to use listening. Yesterday we went into another store and nobody would come and help us, so I heard a cash register and I heard someone checking out. I said, “Let’s go over there and ask that person at the cash register.” That’s what we did.
I’ve been known to just even ask another customer if I’m by myself, “Hey, do you see anybody here that works here?” or, “Do you know where I might go to find,” whatever I’m looking for.
Roni Sue Thompson:
Yeah, I’ve done that and people have actually done that to me, “Do you happen to know where something is in the store?” It’s okay. I think we get this idea that we don’t want to bother other people in the store or maybe there’s that “don’t talk to strangers” mentality, but sometimes you’ve just got to if you can’t find anybody.
Listening for the cash register is great. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that in places like Macy’s or Dillard’s when there isn’t an apparent place, so that’s exactly what you have to do. Sometimes you’ve just got to ask your fellow shoppers for help.
Betty Huffman:
One of the things that I’ve done, which I loved, was if I know I’m going by myself and I know that I can get what I want at a smaller store, I like the smaller stores that you can get more one on one help from, like the little boutiques, because I’ve always found them to be more helpful.
I had a wonderful experience with a store I got to know that two owners of the store, actually they were owners and they worked there, and they got to know me really well. They knew what I wanted in clothing, what looked good on me, what didn’t, and they were very honest, which is a real trip and hard to get sometimes.
They were so wonderful that when they would go to market, they would even look for things that they thought I might like. They were terrific. Sometimes that’s a little more expensive, but you have the choice of is it worth a little more expense, the convenience or not? It’s strictly a choice.
Billy Brookshire:
Thanks, both of you. It sounds like assertiveness plays a part in all of that as well as making good choices. Let’s take the next step, you guys. Let’s talk about how you get to the stores. How do you transport yourself in that direction?
Roni Sue Thompson:
For me, if it’s a store that’s on the bus line and I can get there that way, that’s the way that I do it. If it’s not readily accessible on the bus line, I will call a cab, take a taxi, or what I’ve found I’m doing a lot more is making arrangements with my friends.
Someone will say, “I need to go to World Market,” and I will say, “Would it be a problem for me to go with you?” You work out those agreements with your friends, chip in for gas.
A store that I go to a lot to stock up is Sam’s, which I have a membership card. Some of my friends don’t, so we do that bartering system where we’re going to go to Sam’s on this day. They can purchase their items using my membership card, which keeps them from having to buy a membership. I get to go to Sam’s with my friends. I don’t have to fuss and fight with the cab fees and they’re there if I can’t find something and need help. We shop together, so it’s mutually beneficial to all of us.
That’s what I find myself doing a lot lately is working out those barter agreements, where I’m not asking someone to do something for me where they don’t get anything out of it. We both benefit from the experience.
Betty Huffman:
I use a dog guide from Seeing Eye and when I can, I walk to do my shopping. When Jonathan’s here we go shopping a lot together. When he’s not, I either ride the bus or, like Sue, call friends.
If I’m going to use a taxi, I like to have a driver that I know and that I know can find stuff fairly easily. Some of the drivers, like one driver I know, will go into the store sometimes with me, which is wonderful. Of course, I’m paying for her time while she does that. Or, I ask her, “Will you come back and get us in x number of time?”
I go shopping with my sister sometimes and that has pros and cons. I think we’re going to talk about that a little bit later. I’ll wait on that. My husband is always saying, “Make sure your dog’s under control. Make sure your dog’s not wandering around at the end of the leash.” I have those tapes running through my head, too, when I’m shopping.
Billy Brookshire:
You reminded me of an old friend who decided the best way to handle shopping was that she would find a place to live that was close by all the shopping she needed and she walked wherever she went. I don’t think many people have that option, but it’s something to think about.
Roni Sue Thompson:
That’s a really good option. It’s getting to be a better option with places like the Domain where they have the apartments. They integrated the shopping with the living. Isn’t there a development like that at Miller where the old airport used to be? Something like that.
Where we live in Texas, where everybody and their dog has a car, people don’t really get into that, but that’s a great suggestion if you can do it. That’s awesome.
Betty Huffman:
It’s really hard if you live in a rural area. I’m sure you all know if you live there, it’s hard to get transportation. It’s hard, sometimes, to get people to go when you need to go or you want to go.
Even though I’d love to live in the country and have horses, living on the bus line, to me, is the only way I can feel comfortable about doing it.
Billy Brookshire:
Thanks, you guys. You covered those very well. Let’s move on. We’re all the way to the store now. We’ve transported ourselves there and you’re looking for your objects out there that you want to purchase. Talk a little bit about grocery shopping. When you’re at the grocery store, how do you find the objects out there that you’re looking for?
Roni Sue Thompson:
I have some vision so I don’t usually go right up and ask for someone to go through the store with me, because I’m a little bit of a control freak and people usually don’t go as fast as I want to go.
What I do is if it’s a particular brand of salsa, I know where the salsa aisle is and it takes me some time. You’ve got to just look. I have to hold everything up very close to my face to see it, so pretty much, that’s what I do.
Eventually, you have the items that you need and that you use all the time and you get to know right where they are in the store because of the sheer repetition of buying them – those frequently-used items. So, it gets faster and faster until Wal-Mart completely rearranges everything and throws you off for a month or so and then you have to learn it again.
The other thing, which this is something that I discovered about a year ago, with particularly Sam’s, they have this option on their web page where you can establish an account and it’s something that they call Click 'n' Pull. What it allows you to do is go in and select the things that they have available for this service.
I use it for paper towels, tissues, things that I don’t want to go dragging through the store. I select it, place them into my virtual shopping cartand then when I’m done, they’ll tell me you can come pick up this order at whatever time.
They go through the store, they grab all those items, they box them up, cart them up and ring them up, and when I get to the store, they’ve presented me with a receipt and all I need to do is go to a register and pay. That’s an option.
You still have to go get the items, but it does save a lot of time in going through the store. I will confess that that frees me up to go look for things that I might not need. It just frees me up for more shopping because they’ve done all the hard work and heavy lifting. I can go back through the store and get the things that maybe weren’t available for me to select or I can look around.
Billy Brookshire:
Roni Sue, Laura asked what store that was.
Roni Sue Thompson:
It’s any Sam’s Club. They all do it. If there’s one in your area, they all do it. It’s on their website, which is samsclub.com.