Angelous Ginanena

Leading up to the Christmas break, I misplaced my prized earphones. They had been able to sustain my music cravings for several months, and their misplacement really hit hard. I had to use replacement airline-esque earphones that lacked the bass and supreme sound I was used. Alas, I survived with the lacklustre quality for a good two weeks, and leading up to the New Year, having received some money from big ol’ Santa Claus, I decided to invest in a new technology to please my ears’ thirst. Then my watch decided to stop working and if you read my previous article on my watches, you know I am not a big fan of my watch companions; it seems they are always scheming to either break or get lost under my watch (haha, get it, under my “watch”). I decided I should go to my coveted Shoppers Drug Mart to buy another one, and I so happened to have $50 in Shoppers’ gift card money lying around, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.

I traversed to the nearby eastbound Shoppers (which actually happens to be slightly further than the Shoppers west of my house but supposedly sells more stuff than the former) to collect my bounty, seeking the cheapest but sturdiest watch at my disposal and the best earphones a convenience store can offer. I was faced with a wide variety of mediocre devices and finally settled upon some name-brand headphones, a move I wasn’t expecting to make considering my mother throws a fit whenever I can’t hear her when she calls, headphones a culprit of this crime more often than not in the past. As I started to leave the checkout line, I saw a clearance section that was looking a tad-bit appealing, so I worked my way over and found my new love: Sony Extra Bass headphones. There was no price tag on I but I just had to figure out how much it was, so I placed myself back in line and waited until I found myself at the front of the que again; the headphones were $15 cheaper than the ones I just purchased.

Of course, I exchanged them, the process taking a little longer because it was a gift card transaction so they had to get me new gift card to compensate, but I walked out of that store feeling like a champion: a new watch and killer headphones with $15 dollars to spare. However, when I arrived home and opened my care package, my mood changed. The volume control button I was so used to on my previous earphones was missing from these big boys, and at full volume, unless in a noisy environment, the music could be heard by others, something I didn’t want! I immediately felt the urge to return them and buy new ones.

Three days later, I made the march west to my nearby Shoppers in the freezing-cold temperatures only to find out that you can only return electronics at the store you bought it from! This revelation had me walking all the way back past my house eastward towards the next closest Shoppers, the one I had originally bought from. They gave me some story about not being able to accept the item because it didn’t the Shoppers’ sticker on it anymore, but that if I went to the other location, the one I just came from, they could probably handle it. I reluctantly made the trek back, once again in the below-zero weathers, to the previous location, told the manager there the story the other franchise spoke, and to my dismay, was informed that apparently clearance items cannot be returned! Would’ve been nice to know that from the beginning, don’t you think?  

I went home feeling a little bit better about myself, however, as before I left, I realized all the headphones and earphones lacked was the volume button I so deeply coveted, and that full-volume listening wasn’t going to do anything but hurt me in the future.