Don't call me honey

I'm sick of getting sexist treatment when I get my car serviced.

Seriously. I've had it.

My car is NEVER done when they promise it, they try to upsell me on absolutely EVERYTHING that they do not try to upsell my husband on, and they call me demeaning names. I know I am not brilliant at car maintenance, but I DO know how long it takes to get an oil change. However, I have had just about every incident related to my car take twice as long (or more) with a bunch of runaround.

At this point I'm willing to drive anywhere if I get fair service. A few months ago, I bought a set of four tires from a car place near my parents' house. Overall, that went really well. And not only did I get tires, but the deal at the time was that I got free oil changes for the life of the tires. I was excited about this. I figured since that service went well I'd be happy with that place.

Then, as I was planning to head out of town this summer for a weekend, I called the shop on a Friday morning. I asked the person who answered the phone if it'd be possible for me to drop by the store and have my oil changed quickly around 5:30 that evening. The guy said, "Oh yeah, no problem at all." I mentioned that I had the free oil change and asked if I should set up an appointment to guarantee my car gets looked at immediately, as I had a night of driving ahead of me and didn't want to waste daylight.

He tells me it's no problem at all and no appointment needed. I didn't feel good about it, but I didn't push it and said thanks and hung up.

5:30 rolls around and I'm in a huge hurry, and I stop by the store. The guy I talk to looks confused and says they can probably squeeze me in but it might take up to two hours. I look around. I am alone. I have no other car. I explain AGAIN that I was told it'd be no problem and take about 30-45 minutes. The guy says hes sorry, bu he didn't know who told me that because they tell everyone to plan on TWO HOURS for an oil change.

Now I'm pissed, I need to drive for about five hours and I just want to get on the road. I'm like, DUDE, I CALLED for this VERY REASON. He can tell I'm getting mad, and I'm mad because I don't want to take it out on this dude, who did not take my phone call in the first place. Then this dude pops his head in from the shop and says, super condescendingly, "Oh, HONEY, you talked to me this morning. I would have never told you that we could do that and I would have said you should set up an appointment." And shakes his head all slow back and forth, like I'm hard of UNDERSTANDING.

At the word honey, my blood boils over, and now I'm super pissed. I'm like, "Maybe I talked to someone else," trying to figure out why he'd blatantly LIE about talking to me and hoping I did, in fact, talk to someone else. And they both say, in unison, "No, he's the only guy here in the morning ever."

I was like "Then YOU TOLD ME this would be no problem and an appointment wasn't needed and in 45 minutes I'd be out on the road." I wait for them to back off, say they're sorry, and squeeze me in. I'm not asking for the world, here, and they promised it to me that morning. I can see two people out of the corner of my eye who are starting to look uncomfortable.

He's like "Honey, I'm sorry. You must have misunderstood me."

STOP CALLING ME HONEY!!!!!!!!!!! I was ready to punch him in the face.

I was like "No, I didn't misunderstand you. I know what you said, and I asked twice because I had a feeling you didn't know what you were talking about!" I grabbed my keys out of the guy's hand and stomped out. I was so furious at that point. I haven't been back.

So then I needed another oil change, badly. I stop by another shop, which happens to be right across the street from my house. I was like, whatever, it's convenient, even if it costs me to have it done. And they were once two hours late getting my car to me when I had to get to WORK but I have to get it done and this is the easiest way to do it.

I stop in, the guy is super friendly, no problem, he can have it done in the morning. He asks me what time I need my car by. I tell him NO LATER than 11 a.m. It is Saturday today, after all, and I have a ton of stuff to get done this weekend, including getting to the post office and the bank by NOON.

You can guess what happens, right?

11:15 rolls around and I still haven't heard anything. I call around 11:30 and ask if my car is done, hoping they just forgot to call me to pick it up. Nope. I'm on hold for FAR too long, and the guy comes back and says, "Oh I got it in for you, I can call you when it's done, OK?" Which means they hadn't even STARTED on the oil change despite the fact that they've been open since SEVEN this morning. So now it's 12:15 and it's STILL not done. Dudes. It takes like a half hour. Bank is closed. Post office is closed. Day's plans are totally screwed up and now I'm so mad I could spit.

I'm so flipping mad. This happens to me EVERY TIME. EVERY. TIME. I wish I didn't have to have a car. I'm so done dealing with these jerks who think my time is expendable and think it's OK to lie to me and call me honey. I realize car things suck for everyone. But seriously. These are just two of the incidents I've had. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO CUSTOMER SERVICE? And treating women like equals? Seriously. That dude is probably going to get an earful when I go pick my car.

Done being an adult

Some days, I really want to give back my title of Adult and take back the title of Child.

Today is especially one of those kinds of days.

It started out with opening a piece of mail that was a magazine subscription offer. i was being offered the SENIOR DISCOUNT.

SENIOR DISCOUNT.
.
.
.
SENIOR DISCOUNT!

I am not that much of an adult.

Then, more adult-world-type problems ensued. And want to take care of those problems by writing a note in crayon that I am running away and bringing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat behind the big cottonwood tree in my parents' former backyard.

Now, how can I go about trading in that title?