"Sometimes taking a piss can blow up in your face"

We were CRAZY busy today. It was pretty much non-stop so my stories about our customers today is a bit limited. What I do have is one of the funniest moments I think I've ever had at the tent.

So this is technically a story that happened after midnight but whatever... We finished our fireworks show and one of the guys (who just so happened to be Drunky The Bear on Real Radio 104.1) needed to use the bathroom. So he went to the Port-A-Potty. Well Craig decided to run in and get one of our loudest items. He decided he was going to light it and throw it near the guy and scare him... well his plan backfired... it landed UNDER the Port-A-Potty. The poor guy came out and a ton of smoke followed him. He came out holding his pants up around his waist and holding his ears. He said he couldn't hear well for about 10 minutes.

In case you were wondering... here's a link to the video (yes, of course we recorded it!!)
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

The Apocalypse is Upon Us!

So this lady in her early 30's came in and got a few small things and then made her way up to the counter. She set her stuff down then said, "Man this stuff is so expensive! It's like I should just take a match to my money instead... You know, this might sound a little morbid, but I probably was the same way when I was her age... but my thirteen year old wanted to have a Pre Apocalyptic Party. She said if the world is going to end she wanted to go out with a bang! I mean I don't blame her..."... This lady said this with the straightest face I'd ever seen but both Shanay and I looked at her like she HAD to be joking!! We laughed for about fifteen minutes after she left.

Strangest Question?

So this lady came in pretty late today and said, "Okay I've got what's probably going to be the strangest questions you've had all day..." So I say "Okay, let's hear it." While I'm thinking, I seriously doubt you can to some of these crazies... but I listen anyways. "Do you have some boxes you don't want anymore." ... Oh yeah, seriously the weirdest question we've had all day. I mean it totally tops "Do you guys have those things you had last year? The things that do that stuff. Up in the air. With the colors and the boom?".... Yep. Sure. We've totally got that. In about 50 varieties! ... Some people really should get their IQ tested... :)

... On another note, I'd just like to share with everyone that I'm a big freakin' chicken. All I'm missing is the feathers. That is all.

Playing Dressup?

Today seemed to be character day...

First we had Mario & Luigi, then Dumb & Dumber, then Larry Moe & Curly!

I swear... these people were the best entertainment ever.

Mario & Luigi came in and it was hysterical! They were picking on each other, almost doing slapstick comedy stuff!! But they looked the part! lol

Dumb & Dumber were the pair asking every question under the sun, even stuff not even related to fireworks or New Years!!

Larry Moe and Curly came in later on at night... three kids around 18, didn't know the difference between left and right... along with that they couldn't follow which way I was pointing since they couldn't understand the directions... I mean come on. The store is only so big... there are only 4 isles... Lol!

Overall a funny day! Oh and some guy about 25 or said "Thank you mommy!" to me... it was very awkward. lol

Alarms and whistles...

Well it seems as though I've missed my 'hot cop' the first time he stopped by this season. He came by about 9:30pm last night to stop in and check with the guy staying the night at the tent... And Mike had the guts to tell him I had been looking forward to him coming by.... lol

Well today nothing too exciting happened except I realized how badly I despise being whistled at to get my attention. I. Am. Not. A. Dog. Ugh! Also, another annoying sound today... At around 6:30 tonight the alarm at the Color Wheel store went off for about 7 minutes straight. Now, that may not sound like a long time, but after a long day being out there at work, 7 minutes felt like forever for the alarm to be blaring. The stupidity in it was it must not have been set to alert the police because no cops showed up to investigate or anything!!

Anyways, it was not a very quiet night, that's for sure. :P

Cops!!

Today seemed to be like Cop City at the tent! lol

Last night Michael stayed over at the tent to keep watch, and one of our friendly cops stopped in to make sure he had a phone in case something happened. Later in the day he swung by again when Craig was taking Mike home. I had a few customers up at the counter, three 18 year old kids, when I realized he was in the parking lot I smiled and waved, he smiled, waved back then left. Guess he was making sure I was alright. Then, later when Craig got back one of our other friendly cops stopped by with his new partner and they were looking around for a good 30-45 minutes. And then right as I was leaving a guy who works at the sheriffs department came in. He also informed us that one of their own was killed today in a motorcycle accident. :(

But, it seemed like cops were all over the place at PyroSpot! :)

P.s. It was actually cold enough for me to wear a long sleeved shirt!! First of the season! lol

Tricky kids...

On the second day of fireworks, Pyrospot gave to me...
An adorable kid and his tricky schemes.

So this kid who couldn't be more than 12 came into the store by himself and brought up one 3 for $1 item and asked how much it was for just the one. I said about $.33 he said he only had a quarter, I said I could do that for him, if he had an adult with him. He said okay, he was going to keep looking. He picked out an item that was $1.95 plus tax buy one get one free and asked me how much more he needed with his quarter. I told him and he said he would be right back with his Aunt. So they come walking in a few minutes later and he brings her up to the counter to fill out the paperwork, I ring it up and he hands me his quarter, and I said he still needed $1.84, he looks at his Aunt and she said, "It's my birthday and you expect me to pay for YOUR stuff?" He replied, "Well it's your birthday, you're supposed to be generous on your birthday!" He was so adorable, she couldn't help but smile at him and hand me a $10. It was the cutest thing. She then said, "Next time if you're wanting me to pay for something, let me know first, crazy kid!" She then ruffled his hair and they left. It was adorable. :)

New Years Photos

Day 2 of Set up 12/19/11

End of day 1 of set up 12/19/11

Day 3 of set up 12/20/11


And we're open!! 12/21/11

First day of fireworks...

On the first day of fireworks Pyrospot gave to me....
A day full of idiots and few almost wrecks!

For our first day of being open, I wasn't expecting it to be really busy, but our laughter was pretty full after the day ended. Now, some of the idiots weren't even our customers... while yes, some of them were... one of the biggest was someone who worked at the little accessories store across the parking lot from us. They had a A-shaped sign and the wind was blowing like crazy, well every 5 minutes or so the wind would knock it down, then we'd see this person come out of the store and set it right back up... if only they had turned it so the wind would go THROUGH it instead of AGAINST it... The second idiot came around 6pm... he came in with 2 young guys and a young girl. The kids were fine, looked around... the guy walked in with a lit cigarette, headed for the isles and I said "Sir, you can't come in here with that!" He said "I know, I'm just looking real quick." I repeated, "No, you can't come inside with your cigarette lit." He replied, "Damn can't a guy just ask a question?" I said, "Either you can ask your question outside, or you can set that down or put it out and come in and ask. Either way, you're not bringing that in here." He decided to stay outside and ask... :P People are so dumb, really really dumb, for real. ;)

Trees and Flan

Guess it's time to start this up again...
Today was the first day back at the tent for me for the season.

Only a few funny things happened.

1. Everyone seemed to want Christmas trees. They'd come in "You sellin' trees?" "No, fireworks." "Oh, well I want a tree.".... Uh...sorry? Then one guy came in "What are you selling?" "Fireworks" "Well I think that's the biggest waste of money, I don't see the point. It's such a waste of money in my opinion." ... No one asked your opinion, thanks.

2. A guy came by selling Flan... 1 tin of flan for $5. They had 3 kinds, cheese, regular and cocoa... he talked for about 5 minutes and that's ALL I understood from the entire thing. Who sells flan anyways?!

Imported

So, most of our fireworks come from China... a bunch of them got held up because of some reason or another this year so we didn't have some of the stuff we wanted to have... okay not my point. Anyways... so we were cleaning up and packing today. Putting things in boxes, moving them to the warehouse.. well the guys were collapsing all the tables, everyone was gathered in one area... when this GIGANTIC spider crawled out. I mean the head was the size of a quarter, body even bigger plus the legs! EVERYONE (yes I mean everyone) screamed! Shanay, Tay and I were sitting on a palate, I wasn't paying attention but screamed when everyone else did. Tay jumped up, Shanay did to, grabbing me in the process and dragging me away. Once I realized what was going on I freaked out even more... I moved in cause I wanted to see how big it was... I didn't get the chance cause Missy ran over and smushed it. She dragged her foot over it and the guts smeared for over 2 feet.. leaving bug legs and parts scattered all over. OMG it was HUGE. Afterward someone made the comment "How did the spider get through customs in China but our fireworks didn't?!?!"... We all had a good laugh about that one.

Ka-BOOM!

So, it's the 4th! The BIG day! Well.... it was a pretty slow day. But, everything seemed to be going wrong. At one point around lunchtime Shanay's credit card machine went down meaning mine was the only one that worked! So I had a line backed up all the way down the isle. I don't know how, but somehow I cleared it. Not without help from Brian and Marlene handing out clipboards so the paperwork was already filled out when they got to me. But still, it was crazy. I had to take a break afterward!

Then, so all of the workers could enjoy the show Craig was putting on at 10:30 we closed the tent for about 15 minutes. During that time a guy pulled up and wanted to buy The Godfather, aka a $699.95 pack that included a TON of fireworks. So of course Craig let him get it... but while he was on his way in to pick it up a lady (who was slightly intoxicated) who as watching the show stopped him, saying his car was in her way and she couldn't see the fireworks! She was so angry and adamant about him moving his car that he almost just left without buying the package! Finally she calmed down and we made our sale then went back to the amazing display of the product. :D

It's a small world after all

This guy came up to my line and he had a business credit card that he was paying with and it said his name and "Photography" at the end, and since we weren't insanely busy at that point, I decided to ask him what sort of photography, he said, "Boating, fishing, water sports type stuff". I said, "My uncle used to do graphics design and editing for a that type of magazine!" He asked if my uncle lived here and I said, no but he used to. He asked me his name and I told him he doesn't live here anymore. But, he said for me to tell him his name anyways so I did. Turns out, they know each other!! He had worked with my uncle a few times and even moved a few houses down to where they used to live before they moved to NC. I even texted my uncle and asked him if he knew the guy and sure enough, he did! It was cool. :)

The Zoo

So, today was insanely busy!! I'm so glad Craig called in extra cashiers so we could have all 4 registers going at once. But the highlight of my day happened 3 times.

1. A lady and her brother(?) came in and she was holding this tiny tiny dog and couldn't fill out the paperwork out while holding him, and I was oohing and ahhing over him so much that she let me hold him while she did that! I made Tay ring her up so I could play with the puppy.

2. This guy came up to my register and he had this little creature crawling on him! I stopped what I was doing and just stared at it. He said it was called a sugar glider! It was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life! I was just afraid it would jump/glide off of the guy and run away!!

3. Close to the end of the night a couple came in with their dog and little girl. This dog was the color of red clay and looked like a greyhound with a little bit of weight on him. It was so pretty!! And it was cute, the whole family were in their pajamas like they'd decided on a whim to go get fireworks.

Return Visit

Today we had a guy come in and go straight up to Andy and say "Make me a deal on this, or I'm leaving." He was wanting the 8,000 firecracker thing that looks like a giant stick of dynamite. It cost $49.95 and he wanted it plus two packs of bottle rockets at $14.95 for $50.00. Of course Andy couldn't do that. So he said, "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't do that." So the guy and his teenage son left.

Not even 30 minutes later the guy came in again grabbed the items he had picked out earlier and literally threw them on the counter for me to ring them up. I had to stifle a smirk as he quickly paid for them and walked out without really speaking at all.

Temper Check!

It's been raining every day since last Thursday, so I'm seriously lacking in the Vitamin D department... grumpy, tired, and just not feeling well... So when I get a grumpy customer and I'm feeling like this, Iit takes everything in me to not snap at them.

One of my biggest pet peeves of my customers in the tent is when they ASK for free stuff. Usually we throw a little extra in for them to enjoy (about 10% of what they spent), but nothing makes me more put oft than when they say "where's my free stuff?"

Today I had a customer spend about $50 then say "What are you going to give me for free?" I was already irritated by him for how he'd acted toward me while I was ringing him up but luckily Tay was with me so I didn't blow up at him (I wasn't feeling well at all today and left early). Instead I turned around to grab something out of the box behind me. While I was turned around he said, "I want something that goes up in the air!" I wanted to yell a couple of things back at him... "THEN GO BUY SOMETHING THAT GOES UP IN THE AIR!" or "Hey if you light these sparklers then throw them up, they go up in the air!"... But instead I handed him 2 small things that did in fact go up in the air and let him move on... I was proud of myself for keeping my temper.

Sweet Sarcasm

Today's big question was "What do you do when it rains?" I'm not even joking, I got this question at least 5 times from different people throughout the day. My response was, "We let down the flaps of the tent and wait it out." ... What I should have said was "Sell fireworks." But, I chose to be nice instead of being sarcastic like I wanted to.

I wasn't as nice with one guy. He came in and grabbed two packs of big mortars at $79.95 each. When he realized they weren't buy one get one free he said, "Well Phantom has them for that price for two!" I said, "I doubt it, they probably doubled the price for two of them." Or it's their cheap knockoff, but I didn't say that... He said, "No, it's the same price. I'm going to Phantom." So as he was leaving I politely said, "Have fun at Phantom!"... I hope he got my sarcasm. ;)

"Dirty Rednecks"

Today's post is going to be a bit of a rant...

I really, really, REALLY hate it when people use stereotypes and are so closed-minded that they refuse to even acknowledge that there may be someone who LOOKS like they might fit into a "stereotype" but actually aren't like that. Some guys walked in (repeat customers) who were wearing Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, t-shirts with the sleeves cut out in camouflage and baseball hats and IMMEDIATELY Andreu labeled them as "dirty rednecks" and called them womanizers, illiterate, and stupid. I got really upset at him, knowing that these two guys were in fact, NOT like that at all. They'd been coming for the past few years and I've had quite a few conversations with them. While they may be a bit more country than Andy is, that does not automatically make them redneck and definitely not dirty. I got really pissed off at him for being so closed minded and not being able to comprehend that not all guys who dress like that are "dirty rednecks".

Okay, rant over.

Batman kid came by again today. He spent about $7.5o and as he was leaving he said, "If the package is unopened, can I return it." Craig said yes. He walks out, gets on his bike, straps on his helmet then stops, gets back off and walks up to the register to return the stuff. Really?! On the back of his receipt I wrote "Batman Returns (literally!)" Poor kid...

My day did get quite a bit better... Blake (aka MY Hot Cop) showed up around 7:30pm. I was a happy girl. :) He ended up staying until 9 when we closed up. I was off the clock at 8:30, but refused to leave until he did. No way I was going to miss out on that eye candy. Hot Cop sighting #2!! :D

Puppies?

So today was the first day Steven worked this time, which brought up old stories:

This past New Years season he and I were working, and it was FREEZING! So we were huddled behind a fort made of cardboard boxes while we sat under the gas heater in the corner of the tent. This lady walks in. She is probably 5'7"-5'9" and close to 300 lbs and has probably 5 or 6 teeth total. Well, she looks around and sees a massive sign that stretches from one side of the tent to the other that says "FIREWORKS". She then turns around to leave but sees us in the corner and says, "Do you guys sell puppies?"
Steven and I look at each other, wondering if we heard her right. He's trying his hardest not to laugh, so I say, "No ma'am, just fireworks..."
Her: "So no puppies then?"
Me: "Nope. Sorry."
Her: "Well do you know anyone who is selling puppies?"
Me: "Well there's a place down the road that's called 'Just Puppies' have you looked there?"
Her: "Oh, yeah they're too expensive."
Me: "That's the only place I know of, sorry."
Her: "That's okay. I just used to have this spaniel but my landlady let her out and she ran away and I just wanted to get a new dog."
She then glances around the tent one more time, as if to check and make sure she hadn't missed any puppies then leaves.

Batman Returns!

So, this past New Years a guy came in wanting to show/sell Craig this contraption he made that launches fireworks from this thing that attaches to his arm (it looked to me like a batman arm wing type thing)... well of course Craig said no. So the kid got back on his bike (after buying about $10 in bottle rockets) and pedaled away.

Well, the kid came back in today, this time he showed Craig and Andreu a video of his launcher and told them it's now patented and he's going to start selling them. He's also in the process of making a launcher for your feet & a hat... DANGEROUS much?!

Taylor was ringing him up and asked him to fill out the form, as usual, and he took FOREVER. When it got to the spot about email address he said, "If I put my email down, what will that do?" She said "We may send out coupons and stuff..." so he proceeded to fill out the rest of the form. When he'd finished he said, "Is this legible?" she said yes. "So, you can read it?" She said yes, again. "Well what does it say? Read it back to me..." So Taylor proceeded to repeat the email address back to the kid. Then he happily took his rockets and went on demonstrating how his contraption worked... AGAIN...

Sigh...

GUMBO!!

Nothing particularly special happened today, except another huge flood and some spectacular gumbo.

At home this morning I said to my dad and Melanie, "I hope it rains between 1 and 3 that way it'll cool it down and won't be so hot during the hottest part of the day!"... Sure enough, it rained right about 3pm. I had to help KC get the flaps down outside, so of course I got soaked AGAIN! We all waited around for the rain to die down enough for us to go in the camper and get the homemade chicken & sausage gumbo Miss Jaie made for us! It was DELICIOUS!!!

Also, Travis stopped by and said he'd send Blake over. :D YAY!! aka... Hot Cop sighting #1. ;)

The Great Flood

At about 6:30pm it was like the bottom fell out of the sky! We quickly put the sides down on the tent, but we could see the rain coming in like a huge wave at our feet. It ended up being probably 6 or 7 inches deep. I had to go get my rainboots from my trunk, only to find out there’s a hole in the left boot. Wonderful

The rain lasted a good half hour and we all got drenched trying to get the sides down to keep the fireworks dry!!

Hello, Puerto Rico!

These 3 people, a dad, his 10 year old daughter and 22 year old son came in the tent all carrying what looked like beer bottles. Taylor and I were both trying to figure out what exactly they were. Finally they got up to the table and I asked the son what exactly it was. He said, “It’s a Puerto Rican drink.”

Me: “But is it like a soda or what?”

Him: “I, I don’t know. It’s good. If you put it over ice cream, it makes a good milkshake.”

Me: “Oh, okay. So it’s good?”

Him: “Yeah. Here, take this one.” He hands his over to me, unopened.

Me: “No, it’s fine, you can keep it.”

Him: “No, no I have more in the car. Take it and try it. If you like it, you can get them from the Grocery & Deli right there.”

Come to find out, he’s 22, cute, JUST moved from Puerto Rico. And, the drink was a non-alcoholic beer.

Standup Fail

Man walks in the tent and says: "how are you?"
Me: "I'm good, you?"
Man: "Not so good!!"
Me: "Why is that?"
Man: "The Bible says only God is good. Does that mean Jesus is bad?"
Me: "Uh I ... um.. well I don't know..."
Man: "That's the worst joke I've told all morning. I should be a standup comedian!!"
Me: "Alright then."
Man: "No, really! My wife said I'm so smart I'm stupid. I said she's dumber than me! we bet $1,000 to take an IQ test in Atlantic City... I lost. I paid her with that red cadillac, I put it in her name. I ought to divorce her, you wanna know why?"
Me: "Why?"
Man: "Cause she's over 150lbs, never gets under 140lbs, and she eats like a bull!! Mean too, her bite is worse!"
Me: "Well, uh, okay..."
Man walks away.

Marriage Proposal

Gabe (10 year old) and I were sitting behind the counter talking for a little while, then he turns to me and says: “So, how old are you? Like, 16 or 17?”

Me: “No, more like 22.”

Gabe: “What?! You’re like, practically a woman or something!!”

Me: Laughing, “Yeah I am.”

Gabe: “Well, do you have a man to take fulfill of all your needs? And take care of you? It’s the perfect time to get married!”

I go run and tell his grandfather who says, “So Gabe, are you proposing?”

Gabe: “Well I mean, if you’re looking!”

It would be different if this was the first time a 10 year old LaFleur boy has proposed to me in the tent.... LOL!

Mad Rush

So, we officially opened up today... only problem: we weren't quite ready!

We were still putting the finishing touches on stocking the shelves, but our big issue was that the registers weren't up and running when customers were coming in!! We had to scramble around to get it ready. THEN we couldn't seem to find the credit card machines! Luckily they were just hidden and not really missing.