Customer Service...can I get some good service, please?

OK...I'm interrupting my normal flow of chattering about the craziness in our house, to something that gets under my skin like nothing else can: POOR customer service.
I work in a customer-facing job; I KNOW how difficult the general public can be. For goodness sake, I work with 18-22 year olds...they can sometimes be worse than the general public. (Said with love, of course. :) )
Today....JUST today....within the span of less than two hours, we encountered 2 instances poor customer service.
We took Rachael for some new kicks...some big girl shoes for walking. Well, we travel 20 minutes to the closest Stride Rite store. As we arrive at the store, the two families who were already there were leaving. So, we're on our own in the store -- not a salesperson in sight.
I look around for the sign-in sheet. I do see a clipboard, but, it's labeled "district newsletter" -- well, not going to sign up for that, thanks.
So, we approach the shoe display and we're looking at the shoes trying to figure out which pair we like. Approximately 5 minutes had lapsed between our entry to the store and this point of looking at shoes on our own.
Well, just as the two - YES- two associates emerge from the back, another family is walking in the door. BOTH associates make a beeline for this family. NEITHER one acknowledges us, at all. WHAT?????? So, Mike gets assertive with the one sales lady and asks her to come help us....being that we were there first. When she approaches, I mention that I didn't see a clipboard for sign-in. She points to the one labeled, "district newsletter" and says, oh, it's right over there. I make sure to point out that it is not well marked.
Then, the woman spends the rest of our 10 minute visit with her making us feel like we're inconveniencing her. Ummmm....we're paying customers. We're the reason you have a job, lady!
So....we do, in fact, get shoes and go on our way.
I brush it off and move on.
Then, we pick up a few more things and get to dinner. We go inside the restaurant and ask for a table for two adults and a highchair. 1) She doesn't ask if we need a kids menu....OK...I blow this off....Rachael is little and might not look like she can eat a plate of chicken tenders! :) 2) We get to the table and the hostess leaves the highchair in the middle of the aisle and walks off, after tossing our menus on the table. She doesn't even wait for us to be seated or mention that she hopes we'll enjoy our meal.
Luckily, it wasn't very crowded at the time, so, we could rearrange the furniture to suit our needs, but, geesh....could you help a customer out?
I don't know folks. I worked in the restaurant biz for 5.5 years...perhaps that has made me a stickler for customer service, but, what about simple human decency??? What about doing more than is required? Going "above and beyond the call of duty"? This seems to be lost in the service industry landscape these days and nothing is more aggravating to me.
Thanks for letting me vent. I hope to teach my children to give better service than they will likely receive.

Transition...

I know everyone faces transition in life....from one thing to another and growing and changing is what keeps life interesting, isn't it?
Well, Rachael is going to transition this week...from the infant room at daycare to the toddler room. This may not sound like a big deal, but, believe me it is! She'll be fine....I, on the other hand, am nervous for her!
What does this transition mean for her?
~ no more bottles at school...period. All milk (yes, I said MILK -- not formula) will come from a sippy cup. We tested this out this past week and she did fine, but, is waking up overnight again for a bottle because she's not quite getting enough fluid during the day.
~ one nap -- and it's on a cot -- no more crib! She's typically taking only one nap a day, these days, but, it's still in a crib. I can't wait to see how she does with the cot.
~ almost everyone in the new class is walking....Rachael is close, but, still working on walking while holding hands or on to the furniture.
~ no more Miss Nicole and Miss Jessica. She's really attached to these two teachers, especially Miss Nicole (pictured below in her birthday pictures). We're hopeful that she'll like Ms. Linda and Ms. Janis just as much.

We'll keep you up-to-date on how it goes....I bet she'll do better than I will!
Vocabulary update:
shoes, fish, uh-oh, Lacey (sounds more like shay-she), hi, "hey", and apparently at school she was looking around from her crib saying "cole" -- perhaps for Miss Nicole!