Unraveling the Hissy Fit

Ever have one of those moments when the universe has to zing you? I did. Just as I was thinking I might finally have the hang of being an adult, it got me again. This time round it was picking up my shoes from the repair shop and seeing one of the heels all gouged up. NOT the state they were in when I dropped them off two days ago

In a very short span I went from calm to mildly annoyed, then segued into infuriated and incensed when the man at the counter backpedaled from his original suggestion (that it might have been hit by the repair wheel when they were putting the new heel on), and suggested I'd done that myself while driving in them. If this had been a movie with subtitled character thoughts, mine would have just been a jumble of symbols with the occasional Argh! thrown in for good measure. Not my finest moment.

And then this voice in my head gently suggested I take a deep breath, that this wasn't a big issue, things are replaceable, and that we could get this worked out. That it would be a shame to let his rotten behavior have a lasting effect, and that I'd be the one who would have to live with my response, not him. I was unimpressed by the man's defensive attitude, and I was offended by his playing both the 'suspect integrity' and 'gender' cards, but sometimes it pays to listen to the voices in your head.

So. Deep breath. I stated firmly that this was not the condition I'd brought my shoes in, but that they'd always done good work before, so let's try to work something out. Would they reduce the bill, as I would not be able to wear those out again?

End result? They halved the bill, and if the proprietor wanted a battle, he was left frustrated.

As for me, I got to keep my belief in my ability to deal with things better, and I managed not to have a hissy fit in the middle of the mall, so it was all good.

I've got to listen to the voices more often - seems they can sometimes (often?) be smarter than me.