Friday January 28^th, 2011

I was not worried about getting my hair done, clothes on, make-up done, kids dressed, snacks packed, homework signed, dog fed, dog water filled, breakfast ready, and or any of the plethora of things that cross my mind on a typical Friday morning.

I did what I could do in the very moment that I had, and I did not fret about the next moment ahead.  I was not in a jiffy to get to my next destination-for once.  I can just simply recall the smile that graced my face as I drove west, feeling the warmth of the sun kissing my face.

“I am so proud of you, I love you, and have a fantastical day sweeties”!  Those were the words I happily shouted as my little ones bounced out of the car, and headed off for their school day.  I was happy.

I drove down the freeway heading towards the news station, and had no expectation of my day.  My to-do list was full of gerenda and other urgent tasks, but I was not going to let the stresses of work etiolate me today. 

I walked into work with yet again exceptional sufferance, I would again be one who would outlast, endure, and handle the negative hardship of the environment in which I professionally resided in.  You see I love, and I mean love my job.  However life would not be life, unless with bliss came a side serving of sour apples.

Currently my side dish of sour, tart, and just downright rotten apples sits directly to the left of my desk.  I have exuded an irenic approach to this individual, in return only to realize once an apple has gone sour…it might just take an act of God to get it to someday be sweet again-if it ever was!

With my age comes wisdom… so this sour apple co-worker of mine can thank her lucky stars I am such a wise sage.  Trust me...there have been moments where I want to go Uma Thurman “Kill Bill” style on her ass (not in a killing way, more as in the scene where Uma Thurman confidently kicks major chick butt).

 The whistle ringtone from Kill Bill on my cell phone seems to be meeting that need just fine.  There is no time or place for this elementary behavior; I have a business to run, kids to raise, dog poops to pick up, and basil to grow. *smile or chuckle here*

I did my work, answered emails, prepared to meet my client’s objections, and happily four hours later scooted my fanny right on out of there.  I left the station at one in the afternoon, and dashed off to go present to my client.

The first meeting I had with this client he rescheduled, the second meeting I walked in and he was having a “crazy” afternoon, and asked if I could come back tomorrow-no problem.   So here I was fresh in the moment of tomorrow, and this was it.  Three times and then I will let you come to me.  Don’t pull my chain, and do not waste my time.

Personal…yeah it is personal.  Time away from my kids is personal, and I take it serious.  I had a wonderful meeting with my client, and the proposal is still on the table.  However my campaign is tasty, and my client is hungry, and he will bite. Here fishy, fishy, fishy.

I left there with a gregarious feeling, and happily headed to the car dealership to go get my oil changed.  I pulled up to the dealership and exactly stated what I wanted with a smile on my face.

It went a little something like this:

“Hi…yes I need my oil changed, and tires rotated please.  You see last time I was here I had asked to get my tires rotated and they did not do it.  That is fine.  However, today I need them rotated…thank you.”

They said sure thing, gave me my little buzzer thing and I went to go sit in the lounge.  There in the lounge was this blue eyed little boy who was absolutely adorable.  He was with his Daddy, and this little guys name was Jonathan.  He immediately captured my attention.

He was the only person in that waiting area that seemed refreshingly alive.

It had looked as if Jonathan and his Dad had been sitting and waiting for their car for quite some time, and little 2 year old Jonathan had had enough!  LoL!  I sat down and I smiled and waved to the little guy, and he locked eyes with me.

He got off the black leather couch he was sitting in, put his little feet on the floor, and walked right over to me.  He did not say a word; he just stared right at me and smiled.  I was taken aback by his refreshingly beautiful blue eyes and keen interest he had with me.  My mind automatically defaulted to the only set of blue eyes that were burned in my memory…Luke.

I quickly dismissed that thought out of my head, and focused on the very moment I was in.  I was sitting there when I remembered I had received a sucker from my bank the last time I went, and it was still in my purse.  So I dug around in my black hole of a purse and politely asked his father if I could give Jonathan the sucker I had-he smiled and said, “Yes”.

Jonathan’s eyes illuminated with joy when he saw the sucker, and I immediately became this little boy’s best friend.  He looked and pointed at my phone, laptop, planner, purse, laptop bag, and his favorite… my pen.  His curiosity was fascinating and fun to watch. I found myself missing having a little tyke.  Their wonder and discovery are truly amazing to witness.

My playful fun environment came to a halt when the service dude came trotting over to me.  He said, “Christy Mahaney” and I said “Yo Sup-ova here brotha”.  LoL, no I just said, “That’s me”, and smiled (wishing in my head that this guy covered in oil would have been Brad Pitt hot-lol).  Long story short the dude and I talked shop-literally.

I am no fool, and I know how to handle these men.  So he breaks it down for me, and I asked him an abundant amount of questions.  Per this dudes recommendation I decided to replace an air filter on my car that was totally cashed, and I said to Andrew aka the dude, “Out the door how much for the air filter”?  He replied, “20 bucks”.  I said, “Ok replace just that”. 

I looked around and realized my little friend Jonathan had left while Andrew the mechanic was trying to swindle me into some bullshit repairs.  I was bummed, now all that was left in this modern car dealership waiting room was me, my buzzer, and my Keva juice.  What the heck is a girl with ADD supposed to do in this drab waiting room now? LoL

Ten minutes later my handy dandy bizzer buzzer goes off like some quarter slot machine that had just hit a jackpot in Vegas.  I mean this little buzzer thing was loud, vibrated, and lit up.  I went from sitting quietly, to looking like I had myself a huge ass 1990 pager with lights, and with a small sound system in it.

So I casually and classfully (new word I made up), stroll over to pay my balance as I act like my annoyingly loud blinking pager is cool, and not bothering me.  LoL

Well…things kinda got oily.  Get your tools out boys…I will show you what you can screw, cause you won’t screw this hen.

 This nice lady prints up my balance owed and says, “That will be 42.87”.  I replied, “I am sorry, however Andrew and I had spoke earlier about the cost of this-out of the door.  It was supposed to be within the vicinity of 20 dollars.  Can I speak to Andrew please?  I will not be paying anymore than what we had previously agreed.  If you need to take the filter off my car, and put my old one back on-so be it.”

She kindly said, “I will go find Andrew right now and see what happened.”  I literally stood there for 5 minutes, when guess who came back?  Not Andrew!  The nice lady came back and said, “Oh he accidently made a mistake…he fixed it.”

I thought hey things happen that is fine whatever.  Sooo…the beat goes on.  Well I am no mechanic, but I am not stupid.  You see, before I dropped the car off I marked my tires.  I knew I wanted to get them rotated, and I wanted to make sure I got just that.

So…they swing my car up and park it where I can see it.  I am standing reading what the mechanic did, and I said to the nice lady, “I will be right back”.  I walked out to my car and I checked my tires.  They had not moved a damn inch!  My personal pissed off gage when from cool to hot.

I went back in and I looked on the paperwork. In two spots it stated that the tires were rotated.  Houston we have a problem. 

I was just lied to!  I was just taken for a dumb blonde, and in my head I wanted to rotate that mechanic right out of a job (lol only in thought…I never would get him fired).  I said to the nice lady, “Could you please get me your Service Manager”?

Stephen came over (Service Manager) and I executed the finest speech any intelligent woman ever could.  It was heartfelt-not emotional, yet educated-smart, direct and bottom line.  I put my paper on the counter, and circled the dollar amount on the estimate they had printed (estimate for work they said I needed done next time, and it was in the thousands). 

I circled it and I looked Stephen in the eyes and I said, “Do you think as a customer I am going to come back and confidently spent thousands of dollars in your shop, because honestly I am not feeling to assured that the work might even get done if I bring it back here”.

He said, “I agree, but whatever I can do to make this right…I will be happy to do”.  I said, “So this lying mechanic you have back there…next time I come to get an oil change… I will be bringing this paper and I will request his sticky hands do not touch my car.”

Stephan said, “The next time you come here, that will never happen, and Christy you personally can drop and leave your car with me.  I am so embarrassed how our mechanic lied to you.  Now what can I do to make this right”? In my head I was thinking, “Do I have enough leverage to negotiate them giving me a brand new sweet looking ride”?  I snapped back into reality quickly. LoL

I said, “Look what would have made this right would have been your twisted mechanic rotating my tires as I had requested.  If he did not have time, I would not have minded coming back but lying is very unprofessional.  I appreciate you taking due diligence and concern with fixing this problem at hand; however, I do not have time to have my tires rotated now.  You can pick up the cost of the air filter and we can call it a day.”

Oh I was one pissed off pepper.  So they paid my bill, hooked me up with free car washes and I zoomed out of there.  I called my parents and vented like one hot fuel injector.  I knew my front brakes were in the red zone, and so was my state of mind.  Thank heaven for my amazing parents who are the coolant to my over heated radiator, bringing me back to my happy place. LoL

I looked at my phone later that evening…

I saw a message sitting on my phone…ironically from a dear friend who used to work at this car dealership.  It said:

Hey Christy,

I read your post on Valentine’s Day and for some reason it struck a chord with me, as some how you usually make me think about something.  But seriously, I would never picture you to feel like you needed a man in your life.  I would imagine that a man would be a bit of an obstruction for you, to slow you down.  I mean really what man could ever really keep up with you?  I have always thought of you as too independent for someone to handle.  I mean if you really wanted a man, I would imagine that would not be exactly difficult for you.  Fact:  You are an amazing woman.  Just something I have noticed from the little time that we have personally interacted, and our over the internet friendship.  I think in here somewhere I am trying to say, feeling alone does suck, but keep your head up.  You will find that which compliments so well sooner or later.  You are pretty awesome, ask around. J  Take care my friend, just wanted to drop two cents, hope all is well, you will be just fine.  I promise.

I had had a long day, and I could not invest much thought into figuring out this message, but it is always nice to hear from a friend out of the blue. Then not shortly after that I got a text message from an old friend who I have not seen in years. It said:

“Over heard a rumor about you and how amazing you are.  I am so proud of you, and the challenges you have overcome.  Christy you’re the epitome of a great woman.  I am flattered to know you.”

Wow…what an amazing message to receive, and it lifted my spirits.

So then I get home, and I look at my front porch and see a huge box!  I got soooo excited LOL!  You see I was like, oh my goodness someone sent me a surprise! I had never seen a big box that huge, and I was thrilled!

I brought it inside and looked at the label.  It was not for me.  They totally delivered this amazing big box to the wrong house.  Talk about epic bummer, but I knew right then I had the opportunity to make someone else’s day!  I had the chance to get this box back to the rightful owner!

UPS delivered it, and it was from Game Stop.  It said that it was a Play Station 3 gaming system.  I was like wowwww!  I asked a few neighbors, and nobody knew of this person whom it was addressed to.  It was addressed to a “Kimberly Johnson” but it had my address.

Anyhow, I called the UPS customer service and they were thrilled by my honesty.  I thought to myself who would I be to not do the right thing.  I mean look how upset I felt when I got lied to earlier today!  Doing the right thing is the only option.

The lady on the phone explained to me that these kind of things happen a lot.  Most of the time if it is of value people just keep them, and the individual who purchased it is SOL!  She said…I must have been raised right, and that they admired my honesty.  I am not going to lie…I am human and a little voice whispered in my head, “Just keep this…nobody will ever have to know-Score”! LoL

I did not listen to that voice…and UPS are coming to pick it up Tuesday, it’s Friday.  Well I have written enough, and this day needs to come to an end.  Plus I have some serious Play Station time to squeeze in before Tuesday…LOL just kidding!

I think I am losing my best friend…What the Bic?  Where is the flame?  He always lighted the match, but never the candle.  I want closure, but I do not like how losing your closest friend feels. 

I will find peace in knowing I may have had a crazy day…but I will find grateful appreciation in knowing I gave my best.

Some of us get dipped in flat, some of us in satin, some of us in gloss…every once and awhile you find someone who’s iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.

Enough of my random thoughts and whimsical writing, it is time for bed.

Putting it in park-Cc