Serenity NOW!

If you aren't followers of Seinfield you won't get this. I used to watch it fairly often - I think I've seen every episode. There were many episodes that correlate to my own life, not that I'm Jewish, or a man, or have self-absorbed friends (well, some of them might be). Nor do I have crazy parents....except for my Dad who recently went on a flying trip in his new airplane and was so concerned about his weights balancing that he didn't allow my Mom to bring a salt shaker. For the meals they were going to eat while camping out. Salt. Apparently it just weighs too much.

Anyhoo, I digress. It was the kind of day that makes me want to scream SERENITY NOW! George's father, who has an awful temper, was trying to gain a more serene lifestyle. He had a series of "self-help" tapes that encouraged him to say "serenity now" whenever he felt life getting out of control. Instead of gently whispering, George's Dad would yell SERENITY NOW! like it was a command and if he commanded it, life would become easier.

This afternoon I was on phones two lines going most of the last 1/2 hour. And they were the most excrutiating phone calls. "I've got this bus and it weighs about 13,000 lbs." Me: Sir, we don't take vehicles for disposal. "Oh, I don't want to dispose of it, I just want to dump all the stuff inside of it into the landfill. How much will that cost?" Me: That will be $53 per ton and that is prorated. "So if I have about 3 refrigerators and some stoves and some tables and some other stuff, how much will that comes to?" Me: Sir, I really have no idea how much all that will weigh. You will have to estimate the weight if you want to guess how much it will cost. "Yeah, but my bus weighs over 13,000 lbs." Me: Sir, it doesn't matter how much the bus weighs. We are only charging you for the garbage you dump. "well how much will my garbage weigh?" Me: Again, Sir, I have no idea how much your garbage weighs. I can't see it nor can I estimate it's weight. We will have to weigh it when you get here.

Then I had the same lady who called a couple times about the woodlot, needing to know hours of operation, days it was opened and how to dispose of her load. After repeating the information on at least two calls, she says, "hold on while I find a pen to write this all down" and then she leaves me with my other phones ringing to find a pen. People! Please have your pen ready before you make a call!

Sorry to vent - it just needed to come out. I feel much better now. Thank you.