It's Just an Umbrella Stroller

Candy Girl phoned this morning and asked what we were doing.  I told her Pete & Bug had a project in the yard and I was going bra shopping.  She said, "I really need some new bras, too."  So, I told her to come with me and we'd hit Parkdale Mall and find us some.  I have a REAL HATE relationship with bras. No love there at all.  They ride up your back, the straps fall off your shoulders, underwire comes through the fabric and pokes you, they have 1/2" padding and you are already a D so who needs that (Really??!?!), the inside of the cup makes you itch, and most of the time they make you feel 10 degrees hotter in warm weather.  Did I say I hate bras?

So, off we go.  When we near Parkdale, Candy Girl says Baby Ruth's umbrella stroller broke, so lets stop by Sears first and get one so she can ride through the mall instead of walk.  Sounds like a plan! We enter the store and go straight to the stroller and car seat section.  She grabs a stroller and we go to check out.  The very friendly and courteous male clerk asks if we need to free the stroller from its binding so we can use it.  "Yes!"  He produces a pair of scissors and tries to cut the 4 zip ties binding the stroller.

He has the plastic just 1/4 inch inside the tip of the scissor ends and it won't cut it.  Then Candy Girl says "It's a shame Big Pete isn't here to whip out his pocket knife and cut these straps."  So the kind clerk reaches in his pocket and pulls out a device with an (I kid you not!) inch and one quarter length blade and starts to try to "saw" through the plastic.  I caution him not to cut himself.  He seems so awkward with this knife.  (All the men in my life carry a REAL Case knife with them wherever they roam.)  

By now, MawMaw is thinking this poor guy don't know squat.  Scissors' power is not near the tip, it's near the handles by the point of fulcrum.  And if you want to cut something tough with a knife you don't saw it, you hold the thing down tight and yank that knife through it.  

The good part is, the poor sweet boy laid the scissors on the counter when he dove into his pocket for the knife. So, MawMaw grabs up the scissors and she puts them into the zip ties deep (about 1" from the pivot end.) and snaps that puppy free.  Then I go on to free the rest.  The guy is amazed.  I muttered something about being close to the fulcrum for more power.  

To the young man's credit, he didn't shrink down and shirk his duties.  He still snapped the wheels on the stroller for us.  MawMaw added the little sunshade. And Mommie locked that puppy down so Baby Ruth could have her seat. 

All I can say is "Thank you Jesus I married a redneck!"  I could not tolerate living with a man who was that helpless.

The rest of the story, Candy Girl and I both found two bras each we thought we could live with in Sears.  And got a very good bargain in the process:  buy one get one half off.

So all is well that ends well.  And we both appreciate our Pete's a little more for this adventure.