Friday 15 February 2008

No excuse

I spent an hour at the depot this morning, walking in the dusty yard that was undergoing paving works and ended up covered in a layer of dust.

While I was driving back, I couldn't answer the calls that came in on my brand new phone. Maybe the headset's faulty. Since I had 30 minutes to spare before picking up the kids, I decided to stop by Nokia Centre to get the headset replaced.

I did a mental calculation. If I parked my car nearby at 12pm, it would take me 5 minutes to walk to Nokia. Assuming I spend 10 minutes at Nokia, I have 15 minutes to walk back to the car, get lunch and drive to SK's school. That sounds good.

I parked and walked quickly to Nokia. All the counters were busy but I was the next in line. So far, so good. I waited and waited. The counter staff were dawdling, moving at snail speed. The customers were asking too many questions. Will everyone hurry up please.

Just when I was about to give up, the counter staff beckoned. I rushed over and blurted out "I just bought this yesterday and it's not working. Can I get a replacement?"

The staff looked at me and before she could utter a word, I said "I'm sorry but I am running out of time! Please hurry!" She started talking very s.l.o.w.l.y, "I have to check.... not sure if we have any stock...did you bring the receipt or warranty card?"

I almost lost my cool, "Look, it's not even my fault! It's brand new and I didn't know it's not working until an hour ago when I couldn't answer my calls!" I started digging for my wallet for the receipt.

I know it wasn't her fault that I was running late or that I was hungry cos all I had for breakfast was a banana, or that I was covered in grime and that I was parked too far away and that I had to buy lunch, and pick not one, but two boys from different schools, then get home, shower, change and get back to the office again!

But almost immediately, I felt bad for almost losing my cool. I felt so bad that I was an ugly customer and felt sorry that as a support staff, she had to put up with someone like me.

I ended up keeping myself in check, and I didn't get a replacement. I was asked to fill in a form (which I did very quickly) to reserve a new headset as they had none in the store.

Though I managed to pick the kids up on time, I am still wondering why I let myself be stressed up over these little things. Haven't I been preaching about smelling the roses and not sweating over the small stuff?

Oh well, maybe I was just hungry. A hungry woman is an angry woman. Still there is no excuse...

9 comments:

J@n!ce said...

I can get frustrated too. Esp, on hungry days & panicky over kids like that. Worry not... but its really bad that your new HP is not working just a day after purchase. Which model? :)

Blur Ting said...

Hi Jan, turns out it's the earpiece that is faulty. I plugged in using an old one and it works! It's an E65. I bought this as it has blackberry function yet it looks like a small phone.

Amel said...

Oh dear...so it's the earpiece that is faulty? Well, glad the problem is solved, then!!!

Well, I also tend to get cranky when I'm hungry. It's definitely a challenge to stay positive and calm when you're in a hurry and hungry and it's also a challenge to stay positive and not cranky when I'm tired and upset he he he...

Anonymous said...

watch out for hungry women!!!! i know the feeling!

Unknown said...

my children know to be quiet when mom's hungry.

WaterLearner said...

It's good that you could reflect upon yourself so quickly. :-) Haha .. Be more aware of your hunger level in future then.

SOUL said...

you handled yourself beautifully.
i remember a time-- just last year-- that i really did not handle myself in a fashion that was even equal to ugly--- more like hideous. and at a cell phone store too!
happy to hear things worked out well, and you even got to go out and have a nice night---
have a better, calmer day.
:))

Blur Ting said...

Thanks ladies, hunger aside, I think it was the running behind schedule part that made my lose my cool. I am such a stickler for punctuality, I get feel so worked up when I am late for one appointment and then it domino into the next one and so forth.

So I already envisioned being late in picking SK up and he would be standing outside the school gate, calling me on his mobile. Next, it would be YK calling me on his mobile...and the part about not being able to receive their calls on my mobile becos of the faulty earpiece makes it all the worse.

Well, it's really not worth getting mad about. Such small things ...

The Real Mother Hen said...

If I was there, I would have given her my kungfu kick!
I'm always an angry woman you know :)

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