Just before going in, I'd got a receipt from a parking machine to display in the car window for an hour and a half. I was perplexed by the date on the receipt and began to convince myself I'd gone in on the wrong day. All the receipts along that road had the 14th instead of the 16th and I thought it very peculiar. So I went into the library - it being run by the same people who do parking meters, the local authority - and reported this. They didn't seem to feel it was their problem, but she lifted to phone to call upstairs to customer service so I could get on to my appointment.
When I was done at the dentist I went back to the library to make sure this was reported. The man at the library front desk couldn't tell me anything. I went upstairs and told the lady at the reception of customer service, but all she could tell me was to take a number and wait to be seen by the proper person. It would be 15 minutes so I thought I could return some books and lighten my back pack.
The lady at the upstairs library desk said there were only machines on that floor for checking out. I would need to return to the ground floor for checking-in machines. She could only help me if those machines were busy. As I headed for the stairs I mumbled 'useless people!' When I returned up the stairs I went to look for something to read to pass the waiting time. The lady who'd sent me downstairs directed another person to the shelves I was perusing and she apologized that she hadn't taken my books for me. I thanked her.
I found a book, took a seat and waited to see a customer service rep. I explained that the parking meter on the north side of the road had the wrong date: every car along that side of the square had receipts for the 14th. On the east side, the receipts had the correct date, the 16th. My complaint was logged, she phoned the parking people as I sat there. She told me that if I did have a ticket to bring it straight back up and she'd take care of it. By the time that was all done I didn't have enough time left on the meter to do anything else useful and so I drove up to Seaton Delaval to do grocery shopping.
I went to three stores, first to one 8 miles away (where I managed to drop some eggs and break them) and then on to two other stores on the way home. I had two near misses, one car seemed determined to side swipe me and some man stepped straight out in front of me in the car park, never even looking. Fortunately I was creeping along trying to decide where to put the car in this unfamiliar car park. I had little luck with the self-service check out machine. Road works made the route home a maze to squiggle through. I was trashed by the time I got home and unloaded the car.
When I went in, Bill was at the kitchen table eating his lunch. He apologized for not helping with the groceries but said he had a headache. He had re-organised some things on the overhead shelves in his office. The weight distribution was wrong apparently and the shelves came down on his head. Not directly I gather, but one shelf onto another and all the contents sliding off onto his head and shoulders and on to the floor around him. He was just grateful his new computer hadn't been damaged. I worried that he might have a concussion but he was sure he didn't and there was no blood anywhere. He took the car keys off me and was going to a DIY shop to get supplies to fix his shelves.
He came straight back in, grinning. He said 'I know I shouldn't but I can't resist'. He handed me the parking receipt and pointed out the time and date: 09:55 16 Jan 14. The right date after all. I wasted all that time and effort to sort out a problem and all along it was me being dippy. I did tell the clerk that 'when I saw the date was the 14th I thought I'd lost my mind'. Well, it turns out that I actually had...
My only excuse is that stress makes me stupid. I'm sure I'm not the first idiot they've seen in that office. I only wish I hadn't insisted on leaving my name and address so that they could make an official record of my foolishness.
Did you ever have one of those experiences that makes you doubt your own mental faculties?
8 comments:
YES I have but luckily my memory does not store all of them and cannot remember one but......on the radio yesterday I heard an interview about a book called What Makes Olga Run. Olga is age 94 and they asked her what is one thing that people can do to live a long and healthy life and her answer....."Laugh at yourself". I hope I remember to do that when I have a day like you have had.
Angele - Thanks so much for dropping by and for taking the time to comment. In spite of the very serious tone in which I wrote, I am rather poking fun at myself. I told the story to my friend, Lucy, that evening and she had a good belly laugh and I was able to smile with her. I'm still shaking my head a bit but I do realise that one day I will look back and laugh about it. Meanwhile, I'm taking action to deal with that stress. Thanks again for your comment.
Oh I've done several stupid things (I'm horrible with dates too - so don't feel bad) and like you say, everything ALWAYS happens on the same day! I try to laugh it off and move on, it does make for funny absurd stories later, but not at the time!
Hopefully your next trip to the library will be uneventful! he he
LR - Yes, I expect it will be embarrassing to run into any of the same staff. That said, the turnover there is ridiculous so I'm probably safe! Hopefully I'll be laughing about it by then anyhow. It was good to see your comment here, thanks.
I think all of us do stupid things from time to time. My latest is this: as I was leaving the house and trying to set the alarm system, I found myself in front of the microwave pushing numbers (both keypads are near each other). I suddenly realized what I was doing and boy, did I feel foolish. I think we just have information overload and things like what happened to you, me and others is inevitable sometimes. Laughing about these things are best!!
Sanda - That sounds like something I could do! Several friends have said they read this and rolled on the floor laughing! One even now says to her family 'I'm having a Shelley day'. Others have related their own stories like you did. I am over the bewilderment now and able to laugh, just as I knew I would...eventually! Thanks for dropping by!
Oh you poor thing - I really feel for you! I have had times when I have tried to be helpful and everything has slipped into misery too! Hope your husband is OK. xxx
Lily - Bill's fine, he's out on a long distance walk as I type. We've both been down with some sort of virus so I expect a lot of my bewilderment was down to stress and that virus coming on. I need to blog about something else if only to get this silly post behind me!
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