It Pays to Whine

Confrontational is NOT a word I would ever use to describe myself....maybe slightly passive aggressive, but mostly I belong in the "can't everyone just get along" group. I don't have as much of a problem with confrontation within a family, because after the dust settles, everyone still loves each other (most of the time), but I can't stand it with friends and strangers. Tanner thinks it's funny because even when we are watching some reality show and everyone is arguing, I can't watch. I can't watch when someone is ranting from the pulpit in church on Sunday. I immediately bow my head and can't look up until it's over. I don't know where or how I came to be like this, but I am.
There have been times when I have wished I could be a little more, shall I say, IN YOUR FACE. Like when my friend told the story of the woman who honked at her in a parking lot while she was trying to put her cart away in the pouring rain and she happened to cross in front of her. The woman honked at her twice and when my friend looked at her and threw her arms up in disgust like "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM LADY?" the woman rolled down her window and said "You better move $*%&@! I am going to run you over!" to which my amazing friend shot back "Do you kiss your children with that mouth?" Why can't I ever come up with one liners like that in the moment? I always think of the BEST thing to say after the fact.
But I don't just have problems coming up with things to say in the moment, I don't even like putting myself in a position where I might have to get a little nasty to get what I need. I will never forget Melanie telling me of when she was having issues with her internet at her house, and she promptly called her internet provider and ripped them apart until they gave her (from what I remember), at least one month free of internet. I was amazed and jealous. Tanner has had to force me in the past JUST to pick up the phone to get something fixed...I have never gotten anywhere near demanding compensation for my trouble.
Today was different however. I have been waiting 3 days for my cell phone to arrive. When I originally ordered it on the phone, I specifically asked when I would receive it because if it was going to take too long, I would just go to the store in town. He said the absolute LATEST would be Friday, but that I might even receive it by Thursday. Well, Friday has come and gone, and no cell phone arrived. I got online and checked on the shipping status, and it showed that the shipment didn't even leave until THURSDAY at 5pm. What happened between Tuesday and Thursday I wondered in disbelief? The ETA is Monday at 7pm. Yeah, I was ticked. But the usual me thought, it's only the weekend, what's the big deal? After I told Tanner, I asked "should I call and whine?" He said "I really don't care either way". But for some reason, I just couldn't let it go. Maybe I am just sick of sitting back and letting people make promises and not fulfill them, or maybe it was that I had nothing better to do on a Friday night than to rock out to the customer service hold music since my husband was researching the law on the "right to die". Probably the latter. The more I thought about it, the more irritated I got. If the guy would have said "Ma'am, it is probably going to get there Monday" I would have had no problem. I dialed the number. My pulse immediately went up by 30 beats per minute. I explained the situation to the man on the line, as nicely and sweetly as possible. SILENCE. I can now audibly HEAR my pulse. I was quite nervous, which is ridiculous, but like I said, I am not a practiced professional in the art of confrontation. He put me on hold, and came back and said he was going to transfer me to telephone sales, since that is who I have the problem with. I wanted to say "So you are pawning me off?" I realized I had become what I always fear which is the "annoying lady on the phone who is mad that she has to wait a WHOLE 3 more days to get her phone (eyes roll)...who wants to take the call?" A very nice lady answered, and I explained the situation again. She put me on hold and came back and said "Ma'am we are going to go ahead and credit your account for 100 free rollover minutes, is that okay?" I said "That would be WONDERFUL". We're best friends now. Actually, I think we are best friends now. I am sure I am still the annoying lady on the phone. But I don't care for once, I have 100 extra free rollover minutes.