February 25, 2016
I thought for sure I was having deja vu or something when doing a recent gas station shop. I pumped my gas, made the inside purchase and then went back to the car to get my gear for the usual round of photos and observations. That’s when things definitely got interesting. The store clerk gave…
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April 13, 2015
I trotted along at what I thought was a decent pace. I’m not built for speed but I could definitely keep up as I tried out the suggested treadmill. Having already “pumped iron” at the weight-lifting stations while the fitness salon manager promoted the benefits and features of their location I persisted despite the catty…
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March 2, 2015
I recently completed a shop for one of those seashore gas stations. It was fairly simple, I took my photos according to the approved photos list and went on my merry way back to the car. Or so I thought. To hear the routine back-up beeper of snow removal equipment is commonplace here, snowplows, pickup…
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July 14, 2014
I was doing a bank shop that’s right downtown in a nearby city. I kept my fingers crossed for a parking space and that’s when the proverbial eggs hit the fan. All parking spaces within a 2 block radius of this location have become a no-parking zone by police order due to a very big…
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April 28, 2014
A bullet whizzed over my head and I hit the dirt. “They didn’t say anything about getting combat pay in that bonus” I thought as I cowered behind a jeep in the parking lot. It all started when a desperate scheduler called me to take a last minute shop in what can only be described…
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June 3, 2013
“Hmm…what’s this? “I wondered as I spotted something lying in the shrubbery. “People just dump trash everywhere.” I pulled out my camera to snap a photo as we’re required to do for this question of the gas shop I was doing. I took a few steps closer and my blood ran cold, it wasn’t just…
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May 20, 2013
A herd of foreign tourists milled around at an increasingly frantic pace, all straining to look out the windows of the travel center. It wasn’t like that only a few minutes before when I wandered to the back of the gift shop area. A sound very much like firecrackers going off came from somewhere out…
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May 6, 2013
Entering the restaurant I was pleasant greeted by a waitress who tried to ignore my somewhat disheveled appearance. It wasn’t every day that a customer appears to have lost a battle with a wayward box of talcum powder. I was shown to my seat and placed my drink order, wishing ardently that they served something…
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April 22, 2013
I didn’t plan to imitate the abominable snow man on a shop, staggering around and making some odd noises. The directions said to dump one bag of household trash. “How hard could that be?” I thought to myself. Just a quick drive to a landfill, have a look around, ask a couple of questions and…
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April 8, 2013
I never realized a lady of mature years could run quite so fast. I and the other post office customers in line watched her rapid exit from the lobby. Interesting how she seemed to rely heavily upon her cane while in line but suddenly become inspired to grab it up like a baton and flee…
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March 25, 2013
Never would have I expected to have to out-run a love-starved goat while doing a mystery shop. It wasn’t exactly in the shop instructions but then, I tend to have some adventures uncommon to most shoppers. It all started that bright summer day when I visited the zoo in a nearby city to do an…
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March 11, 2013
Nervously I looked around the truck stop, trying not to be conspicuous or over play my part. It’s not every day that I had to pretend to be a trucker and was eager to get it just right. This was my first mystery shopping assignment, over 20 years ago. I sat at a counter and…
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