Monday, October 02, 2006

Gander Mountain

Am I a snob? Tell me the complete and honest truth. I don’t know what it is with me, but whenever I travel out of the metropolitan area, I feel completely out of my element. I am actually from a small town in Southern Kansas, so you wouldn’t think I would feel this way.

Today, we traveled to Wichita for my first Discovery Toys meeting. It’s about a 3-hour drive, so it was quite an ordeal to drive down and back in one day for a 4-hour meeting. The kicker is that the meeting was held at Gander Mountain, which is a small scale Bass Pro or Cabela’s. In case you still don’t know what that is (and God bless you if you don’t), it’s a store that sells all kinds of outdoorsy and hunting-type equipment.

Okay, I despise hunting. I really really do. The first time I ever visited Bass Pro, there was a video playing that was showing you how to kill a deer. They were actually killing a deer!!! I about lost it at freaking Bambi. When I saw the Bass Pro video, I practically ran out of the store sobbing. Needless to say, I don’t do well in these types of stores. Yet, this is where our manager holds her monthly meetings. What’s wrong with Applebee’s for crissake?!

When I walked into Gander Mountain, the sign was the first thing I saw.



I realize that some people (as scary as it seems) probably do walk around with firearms. But who walks around with a bow?! And do you really have to remind someone to check their bow? I would think it would be awkward to attempt to conceal a bow or carry it around anyhow! I just don’t get that one.

Then we walked in, and I spotted the first of several stuffed animal displays. And I don’t mean stuffed animals as in teddy bears. When I say stuffed animals . . . well, think taxidermy. Anyway, there was a larger than life stuffed bear attacking an elk who was wounded and lying on the ground. Are you freaking kidding me?! Who the hell thought to put up this little display? I should have snapped a photo, but I was so horrified that I forgot.

What horrified me even more were the questions. “What is that, mommy?” “Why is he lying down?” “What’s that bear doing?” “Can I touch it?” No! Good Lord, don’t touch it!

When I finally did make it back to the “Lodge” area for the meeting, I sat down to four hours (!!!) of talk about Discovery Toys. I am a little Discovery Toyed out after that. Not to mention the fact that I am having my grand opening party next weekend, and I have received six regrets so far. *sigh* Apparently, I need to work on my motivation. Someone please share with me how to become one of those blogging millionaires I always hear about, and then I won’t have to sell toys!

4 comments:

crazymumma said...

What a crazy sign! Have to say it made me laugh, cannot even imagine seeing that anywhere in Canada...

My husband is from a city called north Bay. I was born and raised Toronto, and ya know, there is a difference, I hate to say it, but there is. Good luck with the Discovery Toys. A friend of mine tried to do it up here and everyone found the prices a bit steep.

And oh my gawd, I know. I have not done the book meme yet...I will try in the next couple of days....oops!

Jules said...

I feel ya. When I was on my 8-week theatre tour through Nebraska (who knew there were 8 weeks worth of towns to visit in Nebraska???), we actually went out of our way (off the tour route) to visit Cabela's, like it was an amusement park or something. It was awful and I spent 1/2 of the visit sitting outside, waiting for everyone to be done. Those stuffed animals are so sad!!! :-(...

Mo and The Purries said...

I'm STILL not getting why you would have a Discovery Toys meeting there??? I mean, most stores serve some kind of purpose (I'm kinda on the fence about hunting, but that's just me --- deer hunting to control the population, ok, maybe, but bear? no way! and sandhill crane?!?!? WTF? but I digress...)
why o why would someone have a TOYS meeting at this type of store????


ps did you find out about shipping to Canada? I understand if you were distracted by all those glass eyes staring down at ya and forgot to ask!

Anonymous said...

If you read the other sign, you will see that they are refering to bows and guns being brought in for repair. I can keep my hideaway with me.