So yesterday I went to Fisher and had a whale of a time buying office supplies for the classroom (though I did manage to walk out without what I needed most: a solid two-hole punch). Once the purchase order bullshit was out of the way, 'twas scads of fun deciding how to spend $125, considering that almost everything I needed I already bought out of pocket.

The purchase order bullshit went something like this:

"What do you have, a purchase order or an open account?" "I have a purchase order." "Well it's got to be one or the other." "Uh, I have a purchase order." "You have to have either a purchase order or an account! I can't help you if you don't have one or the other!" "I have a PURCHASE ORDER!" "Okay, then, give me the number." "Don't you keep the POs on file?" "No." "I don't have the number, I'm sorry." After much ado, a nice lady at the courtesy counter procures the order number for me (even though they're not on file, eh?) and it seems like I am off and running ... until I present the scribbled number to the nice lady up front who says flatly, "Where's the form?" "I don't have the form. The woman in back told me to give you this number." "I'll just see about that." She goes in the back, returns, and starts punching item numbers into her adding machine and writing SKUs very slowly on a triplicate form. Because I have about 30 items in my cart this takes nine years. I am older, wiser, and hungrier by the time I leave the warehouse - but none the worse for wear. I cheerfully think, next year I will spend the entire $250 at Education Works instead of bothering with Fisher. Sure, 49-cent jewel-toned 1-inch binders and lap-sized whiteboards are nice, but so is walking up to a counter and paying with a purchase order that is kept in a file folder within arm's reach.

Ta.