Comments on: Bad Times, Bad Times, whatcha gonna do?

By: zonezenmaster1

zonezenmaster1 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:03:38 +0000

Bad times exist well into the suburbs of chicago as well. Wal-mart I would rate them a “5″ dirty and sometimes slllloooow lines but cheap. Target in the strip mall near me(palatine,illlinois) I’d rate a one or two OVERALL. They have clean stores,lots of name brand merchandise. Its a quick time getting your goods rung up. However, their employees sometimes seem confused when asked where something is located. An startled but apathetic face stares you back as you ask for help. Once you make eye contact they are quck to shout at deafening volumes into that walkie talkie that has the volume cranked. I’m waiting for a breaker one -nine for a radio check. They eventually go into commando mode and either tell u they have what you need or not. Kinda weird. Then again so is the bright red polo shirts and khaki outfits. Lol.

By: ellaelax-fr

ellaelax-fr — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:02:29 +0000

By: tasterspoon

tasterspoon — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:26:30 +0000

What a great post. It’s so true. Our Wal-Mart is definitely a Bad Time, but I keep going back thinking it will be different. It never is. Saving five bucks is never worth being in a foul mood for the rest of the day – why can’t I remember that?

There is a Safeway in a very nice neighborhood near me that is inexplicably Bad Times. The lighting seems dimmer, the layout is confusing (the outer aisle is all sausages and peanut butter), and they are always OUT of staples – like bread and milk. I was once trying to explain to someone where I lived and they said, “Oh, over by the Soviet Safeway?”

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:02:42 +0000

I live in the suburbs, but insist that Oak Park is a more urban suburb, right? I’m really glad that I can still take the el everywhere, that it seems more diverse, etc. But I was really upset when I realized the grocery store by my home was still a bad times store. I pay a lot in property taxes, why can’t I have a nice grocery store?

The ultimate, and not funny, terribly sad thing, though, (and I’m sorry this is so disturbing) is that a homeless man was just killed when he was crushed in a dumpster outside the bad times store. So I don’t go to that one, but other than Whole foods in River Forest, It’s just a choice of less-bad-times stores.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:08:09 +0000

2 comments on this: We live near a locally owned burger joint, and it is definitely a bad times burger joint. If you order a burger after 6 pm, they are inevitably out of fries. Also, you never feel like they can hear you when you phone in your order.

In our old neighborhood we lived near a bad times starbucks (funny none of the commenters talk about bad times starbucks. They do exist). We had a much more politically incorrect name for it: retardo-bucks.

By: shayna

shayna — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:48:29 +0000

oh, man, THANK YOU. I never know what to call the strangely-crappy Rite Aid that is closest to my house and therefore within easy walking distance, but which I never go to because the one further away is vastly superior. It is my bad times Rite Aid. The ice cream is always melted, they’re always out of everything, it’s dirty, no useful employees… etc.

I’m so excited.

By: C

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:27:40 +0000

I know I’m like 2 years late but I wanted to add that this is a worldwide phenomenon. Here in Melbourne, Australia there are several stores that I’d classify as Bad Times Stores. The Safeway in Ashwood, for example, has been renamed Trashwood Safeway. I run into clients there all the time (I’m a social worker), their aisles are always filled with overflowing trolleys of “Specials” (code for random, expired shit that they over ordered), the checkouts take FOREVER and always feature a substance affected couple having a domestic. The Safeway in Box Hill (aka Pox Hill Safeway) is such a bad time store. The aisles feel like the have been placed to close together. It’s dark and dingy and there’s always someone yelling.

By: cusheamus

cusheamus — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:52:00 +0000

I just saw this post for the first time today, courtesy of a true friend, and it’s the best thing I’ve encountered in quite a while, not the least because my experiences with various Bad Time stores always leave me feeling like a wuss, a broken reed, someone too sensitive and weak to Suck It Up And Drive On, unequal to the demands of, well, reality, life, and everything. So after I’ve sat in the parking lot and trembled and cried or pounded the steering wheel, I take a solemn oath never to enter that particular Bad Times store again, which is all well and good, except it means I have to drive several miles to a good pharmacy, a good grocery store, and a good bank, even though Bad Time versions are available within walking distance. Now I thinks it’s time to explore the issue so gracefully raised by Patrick, who wondered why he encounters so many people at the Post Office who seem (a) never to have mailed anything before and (b) to have chosen to begin by sending a severed head stuffed with heroin to Upper Volta.

By: jayinchicago

jayinchicago — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:19:36 +0000

I know this is 2 years old, but it’s hilarious and apt.
There is a creepy Dominick’s at McCormack and like, Pratt I guess. It is bland and fairly new/remodeled, but no one ever goes there. I don’t understand how they stay in business.

The Walgreens on Howard and Western is very much bad times. One time I was there and they had no cashier for ten minutes! The Dunkin Donuts in the same lot always serves burnt coffee.

There is a Walmart in Palatine that must be the worst walmart in existence.

By: for news

for news — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:49:00 +0000

jersey news yael news