Pride

The thing that I did that I am most proud of I did two days ago. I did not have a child. Nor did I help a mother duck and her ducklings cross a busy highway. In the past I have done similarly heroic acts. At least twice I carried turtles across roads. This recent act - my proudest so far - was not one of heroism. I wish it was. That would sound cooler.

Before I tell that which made me so proud, let me set the stage. I had heard throughout the years that if one needs tires one should get them from Costco. That’s the scuttlebutt. So I thought I’d give it a try. Another bit of advice I had heard is that if one is going to get tires at Costco, one should get there early. With that in mind I arrived at Costco at ten minutes to nine. What I did not know was that Costco wouldn’t open until 10:00. So I had a pretty good cushion.

At 10:00 I was third in line for tires. I soon learned that tires were going to be $680 and they were going to be one size larger than factory recommendation. That is more than I usually pay at my local tire shop. Maybe the Costco tires are better. I attempted to pay with my credit card. Costco only takes debit cards and American Express, so I paid with my debit card. All this time I was wishing I had gone to a tire shop closer to home.  After discussing my situation with Jenny, I went in and asked for a refund. The tire salesman looked like he was about to talk me out of it until I said I just didn’t have enough in my checking account to cover it. He gave me a form to give to another person at another counter to get the refund. They didn’t have the technology to refund my card so I had to get a giant wad of cash. Then I sauntered over to the membership counter  - this is the proudest moment part – and asked to cancel my membership- my Executive Membership actually. That felt great. The membership guy was sympathetic. He told me that I hadn't used my membership since January so I had made the right decision.

I am so happy to be free of the shackles of my Costco membership.