Enough suck to go around, I guess.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

So I'm in The Giant Crab in Myrtle Beach Saturday night (was out slogging around in some bays that weekend...I'll post pics if I get a chance. Been busy of late) and I'm trying to leave with my daughter and ten feet from the exit they have one of those retractable webbing barrier things and a sign saying "exit through the gift shop."

Guess what? Fuck that. I'm sorry, I racked up a pretty good sized bill, was kind to the waitress, tipped well, didn't disturb anyone, didn't linger, and didn't make a mess, and paid my bill with a smile. I've fulfilled my obligation as a guest. I resent the hell out of the idea that I "can't leave until I've made an unwanted and unplanned shopping trip".

The frigging rope was, and I kid you not, ten feet or less from the door. But no, I have to drag a small kid through a gauntlet of cheap, tacky trinkets if I wish to gain freedom? Hahaha. That's a good one.

That's offensive.

So I simply lifted up the barrier, without breaking stride, and went under it. It snapped out of the connector with a loud pop. I really didn't mean to do that, so I tried to put it back. Couldn't get it into the channel in the dim lighting, figured I'd already spent more time than was owed on the damn thing already, and decided to call it a night. So I let go of it and let it retract back into the opposite pole with another loud snap.

Cue cat butt face and incredulous glare from person running behind me to re-latch the barrier.

Whatever, man. Your manager is a fucking idiot and probably a toolbag as well and you have my sympathies. But that doesn't mean I am going to submit to that sort of foolishness. I'm polite, but I'm not THAT polite.

I can't seem to go to Myrtle Beach without encountering some sort of idiocy that pisses me off.

[Argabarga]

I think it's the, ahem, gentile reminder that makes it sucky.

I mean, unless you bail out a window, every trip to Cracker Barrel means you have to enter and exit through the gift shop, but at least they don't RUB YOUR FACE IN IT!

[Tama]

Yeah--Cracker Barrel built their model around having the gift shop. It was, like...PART of the shop. It wouldn't be CB without the store. (I used to get these huge Tootsie Rolls there...mmm)

This? No. Just no.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Out of curiosity, is the exit the same door as the entrance? Are they close together?

This sounds obnoxious, but then again I'm not sure I'd expect differently from a tourist trap.

[dendawg]

That's part of the reason I hate going into an IKEA store....the place is literally designed to make you wind your way through every single department to get to the exit.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yes, the doors are essentially double doors. There isn't even a foot between them, just a metal support bar for the hinges. You go in where you go out, you just don't use the same door.

There is a very small common lobby on one side of the door, and a common sidewalk containing what I strongly suspect was a timeshare saleman impersonating a photographer on the other.

You're right, had it been like Cracker Barrel, it would have been less obnoxious. But Cracker Barrel sort of implies it's a "traveller's stop" of sorts. I almost see it as a gift shop restaurant combo.

No, this was a deliberate detour into a place I had no desire nor any need to go. The "in your face" aspect of it is what I found so offensive. The "You aren't allowed to leave until you look at our tacky shit" vibe. I mean, the door was RIGHT THERE. Seriously, I could have spat on it without too much effort.There was a handwritten sign saying "Exit through the gift shop".

And yes, Myrtle Beach is a giant sized tourist trap. It's fun to visit, but there is some outrageous sucky and straight up nuts stuff going on every minute of every day.

The husband was already in the hot car waiting for us. We were behind because I took the kidlet to the restroom.

[Jay 2K Winger]

The tourist trap-ish-ness of Myrtle Beach, I think, is part of the reason why my family has instead decided to vacation up in the Outer Banks, in Corolla. Up past most of the touristy parts of OBX, but still within reasonable distance to places.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah, a lot of folks don't like it for that reason. But it's a couple easy hours from home, we know our way around, and the family likes to meet there in the summer. And the husband is trying to get back into golf, so he and his brother played some golf while we were there (you know MB is a big golf mecca).

It's a pretty easy beach jaunt for us, so, it is what it is.

PLUS: The bays! OMG! (I"m a big nature nerd...so...slogging around in a bog actually does appeal ot me). Wanna see something cool?

1. Go to Google Maps.
2. Search Myrtle Beach, SC
3. If your zoom toggle is not in the middle of the slider, put it there.
4. Find Highway 31/Carolina Bay Parkway
5. Look at the big green area just above it.

See those gorgeous and strange ovoid shaped formations rimmed with white on the south ends? They look almost like moon craters. Those are Carolina Bays. And they blow my mind. I saw sundew and pitcher plants and all sorts of neat stuff. Need a cigarette now.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

It has been pointed out to me by several people, mods and membership alike, that I may have been a bit of an ass here, an observation I really can't deny.

I tend to have knee jerk reactions to certain things, and when I have a knee jerk reactions, I tend to act like...well...a jerk.

So sorry about that. There may have been other circumstances at work here that I hadn't taken into account...door not working properly, wet floor, other unseen hazard, etc.

Bottom line, I should not have acted as I did. Particularly with my kid in tow. That makes it even worse. Looking back, I totally agree. I was an ass.

Gonna close the thread, reckon there's not much else to say other than sorry for letting my often nasty temper lead me down the wrong the road.