I
was amazed when a friend told me that she’d never hung up the phone on anyone.
Truly,
I was astounded by this news. Survey the women on my mother’s side of the
family, and you’ll discover that hanging up on someone is practically a rite of
passage. It’s not that we’re rude, and we don’t intend to be mean. It’s just
that we don’t like a lot of foolishness. Our tolerance for such things is low.
We will hang up the phone in a second to end the madness.
I’ve
hung up on people from the cable company, the gas company, the phone company, and
my bank; all manner of extremely pushy telemarketers; and of course, my
husband.
Me: “Hi Ed. I’m just calling
to remind you that I’m having dinner with _____, and you’ll have to pick Thomas
up from school.”
Ed: “What do you mean I
have to pick Thomas up? I have a meeting at work.”
Me (exasperated
already): “Ed, I told you last week and again this morning about my plans.
You’ll have to pick Thomas up.”
Ed: “Who is _____? Do I know her? Where are
you going? What are we going to have for dinner?"
Me: “_____ is my friend
of 20 years whom you’ve met multiple times. You’re going to have to deal with
Thomas.”
Ed: “Call Christian and
ask him to pick Thomas up.”
Me: “Why do I have to
call Christian? Why can’t you call Christian?"
Ed (more whiny than I
was): "Can you just call Christian? I’m at a client’s."
Me: Click.
So,
I’ll call Christian and then I’ll call my husband back, and he’ll probably hang
up on me, just to even the score. Whatever. He’s just pretending to be that
person. I am that person.
I’ve
never hung up on a friend, either of my parents, my children, or any business
associates, and I don’t recall ever hanging up on my brother. I guess I just
feel entitled to have customer service representatives and my husband do what I
say.
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