I wish I could be mean. I'm way too afraid of hurting people's feeling. The inability to be mean may seem like a good thing - trust me - it's not. Okay, I'll admit, I can be mean to people I know and love - and that's a problem - but I can't make myself be tough with strangers. For example: we have been without a shower for 4 days now and the end is not in sight. We were supposed to have our tub refinished and it was supposed to take 2 days. As it turns out, they had to fix the dripping faucet before they could refinish. "Oh, that'll take me 10 minutes to fix," the maintenance man said. Well, they ripped out a bunch of tile and sheet rock, trashed our bathroom, and after these 4 days, the drip has stopped, but there's no faucet and they haven't even begun to refinish it (which will take another 2 days - if they get on it right away.). So Rachel and I have been imposing on others, borrowing their showers, which is highly inconvenient. I was so mad about it yesterday, I almost lost it, yet I can't bring myself to go talk to the apartment manager and tell her how it is. I'm too afraid of making her mad. I realize this is silly and I should toughen up and take care of business, but I know myself well enough to know that no matter how much I determined to go speak my mind, I would get in there and be all, "Excuse me, please, if you don't mind will you please take care of my shower, please?...what? you're busy? Oh, okay, take you're time. It's no problem." How do I know that would happen? I have a long history of such weakness. I need to go to anger managment class to learn how to be angry.
Posted by christin at February 6, 2004 09:55 AM | TrackBackYou need to pull out a verbal can of whoop-ass and tell your apartment manager that if your tub doesn't get fixed, you'll be at her apartment every day at 6:00 am to take a shower.
Posted by: ron at February 6, 2004 12:01 PMSo does that mean you want to come over here Saturday night?
Posted by: the booth at February 6, 2004 12:21 PMReading this entry, I wonder when was the last time you truly got upset? Because, man, if that bathroom situation doesn't do it, then I don't know what would! Wow. :)
Posted by: andy at February 6, 2004 06:36 PMChristin, you must be the customer that reps like to get. That type of kindness doesn't go unrewarded. Plus, your kindness has given you somewhere to go in light of your circumstances. Think about it, if you were a jerk, you'd be a dirty jerk.
Posted by: Mike Aman at February 6, 2004 06:48 PMWhat Ron said!!!
Posted by: Rus at February 7, 2004 08:52 AMChristin, that sounds exactly like somthing I could have written 3 years ago. I felt as if I never got anything accomplished because I was afraid of upsetting someone else... then I got kids. I've never "pulled out a verbal can of whoop-ass" (yet) but when you have a two-year-old and a two-month-old to deal with 24/7, the manager at Food Lion (my most recent vicitm) doesn't seem like someone to worry about upsetting. Remember that the apartment manager works for you, and that you're paying for something that isn't being delivered.
And don't forget to wear a smile when you're telling her to take care of it! A little bit of Christ-likeness goes a long way...
Posted by: Amber at February 7, 2004 09:37 AMYou know that episode of Seinfeld where someone convinces Jerry that he'd feel better if he showed his anger, but once he shows his anger, he lets all his other emotions loose and starts crying and telling everyone his feelings and all that? That's what would happen to me too.
Anyway, the tub is now refinished and there's still no faucet, but it will be taken care of today...even if I have to open up a can.
Posted by: Christin at February 9, 2004 10:08 AMA couple of years ago I had a dream in which I was at a Hollywood part, married to Julia Roberts, ran into a friend from college, and was pretty mean to her--she was following me around and I didn't really want to talk to her. She said, "Why are you being so awful to me?" I said, "Well, I'm not as nice as I used to be!"
I woke up laughing. Not because I think it is great to be mean to someone, I just really liked the line "not as nice as I used to be!"
Posted by: jeep at February 10, 2004 08:35 AM