Thursday, April 19, 2007

too much confusion...

(I actually said, "Too much confusion!" to the kids I work with on our field trip to the bowling alley today. So I sang Watchtower the whole time...as I was outbowled by several elementary school kids with severe emotional disorders.)

Will the drama never cease? Seriously.

I always knew I was a stress eater. I use food to calm, to comfort. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've figured that out. But I guess I thought that if I knew that, then I would automatically just stop doing it. But it's not that easy. Today's breakfast was the usual. Then at lunch, I really (I mean REALLY) wanted pizza. There's a new pizza place in town that reminds me of home. One of the few true Greenup County food staples. And they opened one here a few months ago. I knew they had a buffet, and figured that I'd be fine if I could get a lunch buffet to go. And I was right! I got a big salad and 2 pieces of pizza, even though the box they gave me could have held a 16-inch pizza. 2 pieces. I was so proud of myself. (Until a male co-worker who is trying to put on weight said, "Can you really eat pizza when you are on a diet?" as he ate his big, juicy meatloaf sandwich from the Fuegery.) But things went downhill from there. On the way home, my boss (and transportation) stopped at a convenient store, where I bought (and ingested) another Starbucks drink and a package of mini muffins. Horrible. Then I came home and made 2 cheese quesadillas on small corn tortillas. Not the frozen Kashi meals I have, or any of the healthy stuff I could make, but ooey gooey cheese.

I know it could have been much worse, and I appreciate and praise myself for some of the damage control I did. But the feeling was terrible. I felt so powerless to my need to comfort myself with food. It could have been much worse. Had I had transportation (Nate is in class, so he's got our one working vehicle), or if it wasn't very cold outside, I would have chosen Taco Bell or Dairy Queen or something similar for dinner. I actually considered walking the 2ish miles to Taco Bell, but I couldn't remember if there was sidewalks the whole way. I wanted food. I still want food. But there's just nothing at the house that I want.

The issue? My car. No, my mechanic. So when I dropped off the car Monday, the note said, "Please call me before you fix anything over x amount." We've had several vague conversations about the state of my car. I call today to see if he has diagnosed the issue, and (tah-dah!) he says that my car is ready for me to pick up. I am initially very impressed that it was less than my x amount, but then he gives me the total. The total is more than twice my limit. TWICE the amount plus $50. It's insane. So I go to talk to him, and my options are to pay it or to have him take all the parts back off. And considering he's already had it for 3 days, it's hard telling how long that would take. If he would have called me, like I asked, I would have told him not to fix it. But he didn't. And now what do I do?

I realize that I have led a very fortunate life, but today was the first time I have ever felt that I was treated differently because I am a woman. Sometimes at work I feel like I end up doing a lot because I have a woman's eye and I don't have ADHD, but that's different. Today I felt like the mechanic thought he could walk all over me, and get me to pay for repairs I did not authorize, because I am a woman. And it pissed me off. I so felt like it would have made a difference if I was a man or even if I had a man with me, based on the attitude and tone he took with me. And I don't know what to do. Do I take a man with me to prove my point? Do I continue to try to rectify the situation on my own, realizing that I may not get the outcome I want or deserve?

Let me say, at this point, that I was nothing short of polite and then some while conversing with said mechanic. I apologized many times for the "misunderstanding" and for my "ignorance of car lingo" when he told me where he believes he got my authorization to fix my car (which is a total load of crap). I attempted to problem solve and attempt to find a compromise, but he was having none of it. So where are things? I am at home, and my car is with the mechanic. I'm going to see him tomorrow and figure this mess out. All I know is that I am not paying 2x for the work he did. I do not doubt that he did work totalling that amount. The car was very sick. I just cannot believe he did not authorize the work.

But now it's time for Gray's Anatomy. And I deserve it. With my big glass of ice water. And a mini York Peppermint Patty. Yeah. Take that, Mr. Mechanic.

1 comments:

Aimee said...

Wow, I don't blame you for being upset. Just reading about how the mechanic treated you, I was over here like "oh no he didn't! He'd be taking that stuff back out of my car because if I say I have a limit and he didn't call to confirm something over my limit then..." LOL! See, that's how upset I was to hear that, so I know how upset you must be. I just can't believe people are like that. If I had to guess, he probably did it on purpose figuring you'd just pay it without saying anything because you're a woman. I know you need your car though, and if I was in your position, I don't know what I would do (you know about either paying it or making him take the parts out). I guess it would just depend on how bad I needed my car. If I were you though, if you do decide to pay it, I'd be sure to tell him that you'll never bring your business back to him and that you'll be sure to spread the word to anyone you know about the terrible service you've gotten. You don't need to apologize for anything. You told him "x" amount of money and he didn't listen or even call you. He took matters into his own hands to make more money. I think he's the one who should be apologizing, but that's just my opinion. :) I hope you get it all worked out though.