I took Luke to get his 2 year pictures taken this morning. We were feeling good, we were happy, and for once we were on time.
We walk into the JCPenny studio and the receptionist says to me in a friendly (but fake) tone, "We are running behind about 30 minutes. And our systems just went completely down." I knew at that moment it was not going to be a good session. Trying to be nice, I ask her if she thought about calling to let me know because I could have waited at home. She says she did so 10 minutes ago but couldn't get thru. It takes me that long to drive to the store, so what's the point of calling me? Then I think, "Great, how am I going to keep Luke occupied in this super tiny waiting area with no door to block him in (remember I have a runner)?" So we find the few toys and luckily there was a 4 year old girl there to "play" with. The grandmother was reviewing her pictures but stressed that my little boy was playing too close. Then she says, "Oooh someone needs his nose wiped." I think I actually rolled my eyes where she could see (not good, I know) and I didn't jump to find my kleenex. But Luke was doing well, he plays, he finds cabinets to open and close, we get out the goldfish and finally it is our turn. Or so I think....
Manager Lady asks me what type of pictures I want and when I say "No Christmas today" she looks at me like I'm crazy. How dare I bring my son in for birthday pictures in December?!! In between 3 phone calls, reviewing pictures with another customer and conversing on a walkie talkie she decides white background is best. I could have saved her a few minutes of her life if she had just asked me what I wanted. Manager Lady walks off somewhere else and a new girl who just arrived asks me the exact same questions. Manager Lady never wrote any of it down on my sheet. Meanwhile Luke is behind the counter pulling out file drawers. I decide to just let him do his thing.
We go back for pictures. Luke is looking behind curtains and does not want to cooperate. New Girl has no tricks up her sleeve. Luke is not interested in sitting on the red dot. I am getting a work out trying to keep him on the drape. I sing, I play "peek-a-boo". Maybe I should become a child photographer? New Girl is slow with the camera too. 2 year olds do not sit still, maybe she learned something for next time. I had had enough so I scoop up Luke, I say we are going to take a short break and change shirts.
We come back. New Girl found a wooden train set. That got his attention. He plays, he looks up, he smiles. But New Girl wants to put the 3 piece train set together. So she takes the train away from Luke to put it together. Not a great idea, but thank goodness no tantrum. I am breaking a sweat trying to keep him on the red dot. New Girl still has no sense of urgency with the camera, S-L-O-W. I explain that he's not going to follow her instructions; that he's too distracted. I suggest that maybe she take whatever pictures she can before he gets too grumpy. Because at this point he was starting to say "no" and shy away from it all. She tells me the problem is that he's not looking at the camera. Seriously?!? He's 2.
I scoop him up again after I hear a whine coming on. When I come back I ask politely, "Do you have a #2 or something he could hold to show it's his birthday?" I think I hear a "hmmm" from her. But she does come up with a cute wooden cake with a #2 candle on top. Now this is fun! Luke showed his sweet expressions, he even looked at the camera. Finally we are getting some good shots. Until...
New Girl stops and checks her camera, then looks at her lighting. This was not good. She says, "Nope the flash wasn't on" and then she walks out of the room leaving me there alone. After another 5-10 minutes of messing with the equipment, I make the assumption we are done so we go back to playing with cabinets and drawers. Not only did the computer system go down but so did all of the studio equipment. Apparently no flash = no pictures.
We wait around for the pictures to upload, a.k.a. arranging images into templates and adding special effects to try to sell you more. We FINALLY see the pictures. I see a few train shots, but no birthday candles. Manager Lady apologizes in between phone calls and tells me she will give me her discounted rate of a 15% off. Gee thanks. There were 2 decent poses so I quickly selected those, so ready to get out of there by this point. I pay and make an attempt to lighten things up by saying everything broke down today so next week will be problem free. After I get home, I call back and ask for them to waive the sitting fee which they should have offered to do anyway. They do and they apologize again. This time it seemed heartfelt. Sometimes a little compassion is all it takes to make a situation better.
BUT I still hate picture day.
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