8:41 p.m. | 2003-09-03 Misplaced Instructions And Restoring The Faith In Mankind. Last weekend, I went shopping and picked up several new accessories for my kitchen. One thing I wanted to replace was my old dish drainer that I inherited somewhere along the line. That poor mustard yellow, heavy plastic, deeply stained, gouged and battered thing just needed to go. As functional as it was, it was outdated, raggedy looking and took up so much space it was in danger of becoming the focal point in my new closet of a kitchen. First, I found wooden dish drainer but it didn�t have a drain board, which, of course, immediately impeded its main purpose. I continued my search and I found a collapsible chrome dish rack with a white drain board. Cool. Since I can fold it up, I can easily move it out of the way when I need to use the one countertop that I have. I don�t mind having a small kitchen, but since I cook mostly from scratch, it does take some extra creativity. I also found and purchased chrome paper towel and napkin holders. I then picked up a soap dispenser and spoon rest in a sunflower motif. See, I have a few items (chair, footstool and decorative piece) that were hand-painted by local artists specifically for me, hence they each have a sunflower motif. Even though different artists did them at different times, they go very well together. I also have a couple of other kitchen accessories, which were gifts, that have sunflowers on them. The dispenser and spoon rest match all the stuff I already have in that kind of color-and-subject-matching abstract way I like. I wasn�t sure if the chrome stuff would mix with the whole sunflower theme, but I went with it anyway. See, that explains how I always end up with an eclectic decorating style. However, people always compliment me on it, so I just go with it. Anyway, after I got home, I took the dish drainer out to set it all up. I shook the box upside down to make sure I had everything I needed, and a piece of paper fell out. I presumed they were instructions. Now, I thought the item was self-explanatory, but you never know. For example, when I stayed in West Berlin, East Germany (at the time) many years ago, I never did figure out how to make the shower work in my hotel room. I pushed every button, pulled and/or turned every knob, and, well, nothing. MyDad and StepMom didn�t have a problem making it work in their room so I knew it was possible, I just never did figure it out. I took baths instead. Back to the dish drainer. I went ahead and set it all up and then, out of curiosity, I checked the instructions. Here�s step one. Position the item on the wall in the desired location. Take a pencil and mark the location for the screw holes on the wall. Uh, yeah. I then discovered that these were mounting instructions for something from the �Pine Pantry Collection�. I�m guessing that someone out there has some wooden kitchen item that needs mounting and has either no instructions, or information on how to unfold a collapsing dish rack. Or, maybe they just put these instructions in every box. Who knows? Once I had the chrome stuff all set up, I noticed that all my cabinet knobs are bronze. That�s okay though because I consider both chrome and bronze metals, and metals go together so it all works out okay. The trick is knowing how to make different things work well together. However, it�s still eclectic, of course. This has been a mini-episode of My Small Dreamspace brought to you by me, an admitted addict of HGTV. Please stay tuned for a new episode of Restoring Faith in Mankind. I also went grocery shopping this weekend. Woohoo! I noticed something seemed amiss as a kind gentleman was ringing up my purchases. I thought I saw the word �seafood� followed by a price of 99�. I�m allergic to seafood but assumed that something I had purchased somehow fell into that category. In a very broad sense of the word �seafood�. However, as I took my groceries out to the car, I reviewed my receipt. Turns out they had charged me 99� for the turkey pastrami that I bought. The actual price on the label was unreadable, but the rest of the label was not. It clearly stated a $2.99 price per pound and showed the weight as 1.16 pounds. Doing the math off the top of my head, I knew I should have been charged over $3.00 for this item. Now, most folks would have just shrugged it off and continued about their business. However, being the Virgo that I am, I couldn�t do that. When it comes to money, I�m nothing less than completely honest. I couldn�t walk away being undercharged any easier than I could walk away being overcharged. So, I went back into the store and walked up to a store employee (SE). This is that. (SE:) (Noticing that I�m carrying one item and my long receipt.) Is there something wrong, Miss? (CI:) Yes, I was undercharged. (SE:) You were UNDERcharged? How so? (CI:) Well, I was only charged 99� for this, but I should�ve been charged more. (SE:) Oh, the price is unreadable. We�d have to weigh that before� (CI:) No, see, it says the price per pound right here, and the weight is readable too. This should�ve cost over $3.00. That�s when the gentleman (G) who rang me up came over. (SE:) She says she was UNDERcharged. (G:) She was. The price wasn�t readable and I didn�t have time to look it up so I just charged her 99�. (CI:) Is that okay? (G:) (Pointing to his badge that identified him as the manager.) Yeah, I can do whatever I decide is the best decision at the time. (CI:) So, I�m fine? (G:) Yeah, you�re fine. Enjoy your day. (SE:) (As I was walking out.) Wow! An honest customer. THAT never happens anymore. I can�t believe she came back in here because she was UNDERcharged. I guess there are still some good people in this world. (G:) There are� you just don�t see them too often anymore. Even though it was my own sense of monetary honesty that compelled me to return, it would�ve been worth doing it just to see their reaction. And, I still got the benefit of a couple of bucks. See, honesty does pay. Not a lot, mind you, but still. your thoughts? seed flower