there may be some bad karma headed my way

I don't feel very good about myself right now.

I did something completely out of character.
Lost my temper.

A few weeks ago, I'd bought a couple of  lightshades to put up in the flat.
From their available store stock.
 (no ordering required)
Pretty things, one for the kitchen, one for the lounge.
But I couldn't fit them and returned them.

Then I chose a simpler pair of lightshades from their catalogue.
The store had to order them in, because their usual stock is quite fancy stuff
and what I'd ordered was just plain coolie-hat shaped, brushed nickel outside, white inside.
Metal shades.

But I couldn't fit them to my fittings.
So today I went there after work to return them.

The manager said he was sorry, he couldn't keep ordering things that people didn't want and couldn't refund my money.
Keep ordering?  As far as I know this was the only time I'd ordered anything.
I suspect the real problem may be that the plain coolie-hat shades probably couldn't be re-sold in such an upscale "decorator" shop.

Anyway, very suddenly, unaccountably, inexcusably, I was upset. And angry.
I stormed out of the shop, slamming the door as I did so.
I immediately felt terrible at what I'd done, and felt worse when the manager stormed after me and told me my behaviour was ridiculous. 
As if I didn't already know that.
(Maybe he'd had a bad day?)

I apologised, (sorry, sorry, sorry, over and over), then kept walking to the bus stop.
I felt so bad about myself,  I cried all the way home.
(Tried not to, but hid my face behind sunnies and a hat).
As soon as I walked in my door, I looked up the phone number of the shop and phoned to apologise.
The manager wasn't there, but I left my message. The girl on the phone was very nice.

The problem with my batten-fix light fittings is the black part that holds the globe has been pushed a little too far into the part that's screwed to the ceiling, so not much of the thread is showing.
 I can't adjust that, (not without calling an electrician), so when trying to fit a lightshade, the "skirt" won't screw back on to hold it.

(I needed much thinner, plastic lightshades, (or none at all).
As luck would have it, last weekend,  I spied a couple of these old style plastic shades on a roadside dump.
I brought them home, washed them, and tried to fit them. They went up beautifully.
I now have lightshades.
Free lightshades.
Of course now I'm still stuck with two expensive metal shades that I  have no use for).

*Worse in my eyes, because I was in uniform, so putting forward a poor image of the store I work in.

Comments

  1. Everyone has bad days and we all spit the dummy at times -- but not everyone has the guts to apologise! Well done, you!

    Maybe you could put an ad on a community noticeboard for the lightshades?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh poor River. But Toni is right - it took a lot of courage and showed what a nice person you are that you rang to apologise. I think that apology negates any bad karma.

    ReplyDelete
  3. eBay or Gumtree with pick up required?

    ReplyDelete
  4. You were stressed by something more than just the lights shades at the time I am guessing. I am trying to remember. I think in behind where the light globe fits is another screw ring to adjust how much thread sticks out for the shade holding ring. Turn the power off and remove the batten fitting and have a look.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Toni; I've thought about advertising them, but first I have to locate a community noticeboard. I'll settle for half of what I paid for them.

    EC; I hope that does negate any bad karma, I've had too many weeks of poor decisions lately.

    Kimmie; I don't like what I've heard about ebay. I'll try a local notice board as soon as I find one.

    Andrew; there has been a bit of stress lately. I didn't want to play around too much with the light fittings in case I broke something. I did try to screw the black parts out a bit further, but they wouldn't turn at all. They've probably been in that position for years. But I have plastic shades up there now so don't need to try and adjust the fittings.

    ReplyDelete
  6. oh dear River - masses of sympathy and empathy. after a day on the register I would crack over anything. what Andrew said...
    You were stressed by something more than just the lights shades at the time I am guessing

    your frustration just overflowed.
    the store guy has had it before and won't be too annoyed. Retail is just a bitch sometimes. Good luck though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Go easy on yourself, River. We all make mistakes. Sometimes our emotional buckets get too full for whatever reason and they cannot help running over. It will settle soon enough.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My emotional bucket runs over daily; view the latest on Copperwitch.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good heavens girl, you are only human. Give yourself a break.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I still don't see why they can't take this back if it doesn't fit. Then the store manager will not have to deal with you any more. I do wonder if the reason you were treated so poorly in the first place weren't the fact that you were in store uniform (not the mink coat and designer getup of their usual clientele?). Then when you lost it, well, he knows you don't have a bunch of money so he can berate the poor customer who isn't gonna buy a ton of stuff anyway.

    No, really. I'm not saying it's ok to blow up, but I can't say you were treated well, either.

    Do forgive yourself. Then... see if there is a way to return these shades.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I see this as no big deal River. You got angry and then you apologized. My guess is the sales clerk set you off by saying he couldn't be doing this all the time, which is rather belittling. I don't like seeing anger in myself and so understand, but we all do it at times.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Marshall-Stacks; I have an idea yesterday's heat had a lot to do with it. I don't handle high temperatures very well, yesterday was 33*C with a hot wind. Even my eyes got windburn waiting around at bus stops.

    Elisabeth; I'm feeling much better about things today, pretty much back on an even keel now.

    R.H. do you have calming techniques in place? I'll check Copperwitch a bit later.

    Delores; thank you.

    Happy Elf Mom; I'll sell them to someone somehow. I'm not going anywhere near that store ever.

    Rubye Jack; it was the MANAGER. The sales assistants are girls and they're very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  13. no bad karma coming your way.

    Wish I could give you a hug.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think that the shopkeeper DESERVED to get a serve - one purchase and one order is NOT what I call excessive.

    I think the bad karma should be headed his way and you know what they say about how negative stories about businesses are always more interesting to tell (ie spread around) that good ones....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

kitchen tip #?????

being unaccustomed to public speaking,

I've been trying to contact Haagen-Dazs