From Miss C to Miss S

When I turned 18, I got my own Safeway club account. One of the issues turned out to be that whoever issued me the membership did not actually give me my membership card. I did not think anything of it, though, as I could use the membership with my phone number (my cell phone). Also, along these lines, I could not use my card with my Alaska Airlines membership because my account was under my parents' account. I wrote about that process of getting control of it a week or so back.

Each time the membership is used, the clerk holds your receipt out and says, "Have a nice day...*reading* Ms. C!" (maiden name)

Fast forward 2 years. I changed my name, address and phone number, and thus wanted to change my information. But, because I did not have a card with my member number on it, they could not access my information and I had to start all over and get a new membership. I was not happy, but whatever. This was in May of last year. I turned in my card application, got an actual physical card, and away I went. A week or so later, it was time to buy groceries again. I made a big deal to C about using our new account. And it didn't work. I used the cell phone account again, much to my unhappiness. I was told to resubmit my application, because it must have gotten lost....umm.....sure.

"Have a good day Ms. C!" as we walked out the door, me a little frustrated now.

So the next time I went in there, I turned in the application again. I was assured that it would be processed promptly. I had to leave that day with my maiden name yet again.

A couple weeks later, I tried again to see if our account worked or not. Take a wild guess. Nope. By this point, I was beyond irritated, and gave up. I didn't have to time to argue with the clerk and neither did she, nor did I want to bother a manager. (Safeway is nearly always a crazy zoo) So I let it go, and continued using my cell phone account. It's not like I would have been earning air miles on my new account that I was missing.

"Have a good evening, Ms. C!"

Meanwhile, C would go into the store without me, or would pay when I was there. And they would tell him "Have a good day, Mr. C!" Each time, we would crack up, earning us a funny glance or two.

Sometime in the fall, I think September, I received a curious piece of mail from Safeway. It was about my account (wow, someone finally noticed it wasn't being used) and they did not have the account number from the card, and wanted me to submit it to them in the mail. I returned it promptly, yet I refused to try out the new account, knowing it might take them months to get the information inputted.

So I continued on my path of being called by my maiden name, earning strange looks from people that know me.

Last week I attempted to connect my AA membership to my Safeway membership (the new one) and the website and confirmation emails (2) said it was good to go.

On Friday I made a special trip to Safeway. My mission? To buy something small (a candybar) to see if my new account was indeed in working order, and if I was indeed earning air miles. AND to see if my name had magically changed on the receipts.

I went through the line, and this is what I heard:
"Have a good day, Ms. S!" Music to my ears!!

Going through the grocery line with my mother today, I grinned when my new name was said, and told mom this story. She enjoyed it. And my husband is very relieved to get his own name back :)