Rant

A very odd day of running nearly-unsuccessful-errands. The first was to go to the camera store to see about a softbox. I don't really like the camera store here. I was going to say hate, but that seems a bit too strong. I really really miss B&H in NY. Here, they have this really strange way of always trying to upsell you (which I understand from a business perspective) while trying to act like they care as little as possible about you, what you're looking for, or your business. I am looking for a small softbox with the following requirements in order of importance: small, easy to put together/setup, under $500. There should be tons of options. The guy kept insisting what I wanted was an Elinchrome 39" octabox. While it meets 2 out of 3 of my requirements, it doesn't mean the first and most important one: small. How many times can you tell someone "small" or "that's too big" or "I need it really small" or "I work in small rooms" or "It needs to fit in my car" or "I already have a bunch of 3x4' softboxes that I would be using in this situation if I wanted to use a 3x4' softboxes" before they get it through their heads? I repeatedly kept asking about the 29" one they had hanging from the ceiling and he acted as if I had just asked if I could perhaps use a piece of cheese or create one out of string. It was like he couldn't understand at all why I would want a 29" one that was open and on display when I could have the 39" one that was in a box where I couldn't see it! There, that's my rant...there was also an amusing visit to an actual physical (but soon to be extinct) pro photo lab here in town to get some prints made for my sister. But, I only have energy for one rant today.