Sometimes no matter what you do it seems like you can’t win for losing. Yesterday morning I thought we were running a little early. How civilized I thought as we made our way to the car to go to school. Feeling a little smug about how clever we were I opened the garage door. There blocking every way out was an oil truck. Really? Who thought it was a good idea to schedule deliveries during rush hour? Is it a conspiracy? I was so close to getting out the door stress free and even on time.

Okay, no problem. Oh how woefully naïve I was. I head over to the driver and explain I need to take my kids to school, so I’d appreciate it if he would move the truck. This should have been easy right? Wrong. He says he’d be glad to, when he finishes up in about twenty minutes. Did I mention I was early? I was, but now being early is just a pipe dream. Now I am wedged into the ever-closing window of leave now and you can be just on time.

I explain twenty minutes won’t work when what I really need is now. He looks at me with a confused expression and asks if I realize he would have to retract the hose in order to move the truck? Wow. Okay, I’m terribly sorry for your suffering and all, but retract that hose, my friend before I find a place to stick it.

Then he tells me he would need to print a second ticket. Oh the horror! Catastrophe! This is not the customer service the side of your truck promises to deliver. Tick tock my friend, the on-time window is closed, we are now smack dab in the middle of the late zone. My kids look at me and I can see this is more than just a hose and ticket problem; this is personal. My reputation is at stake. Either he moves his truck, or I become little more than a chirping bird trapped in my cage.

Hard to believe I used to be a litigator, but I was actually baffled that this conflict had gone so far. So, I did what any mom would do, I put on my best mommy voice and put my hand on my hip. I quietly informed him that he must retract his hose and move his truck out of my way immediately. In fact I had worked up such a froth by then I nearly added young man!

Then a miracle happened. It was like a glorious sunrise over a bleak and dark landscape. He nodded and moved his truck.

We were inexorably late, but we escaped our garage and my reputation remains untarnished by his challenge. My kids still know they have to do what I tell them or I will absolutely put my hand on my hip.

Categories: General

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 at 9:25 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.