Frustration

I had one of those movie moments yesterday, and not in the good way. I guess the best way to characterize it would be as a Bridget Jones moment. You know where the likeable and plucky heroine fumbles at every turn. That was me…only noticeable less likeable and certainly not as plucky.

I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday. I had to sneak out of work early to get there on time. I ran up to the door with 5 minutes to spare feeling pretty good that I actually made it on time through rush hour traffic. I reached down to turn the handle and it didn't move. Huh?

I looked through the window and saw a woman typing at her computer.

Knock. Knock. I have an appointment.

She gave me the “one minute” finger and came to the door.

This office is closed. Your appointment is at our office at the hospital.

Now I NEVER make appointments at their office at the hospital. You have to pay for parking and walk about a half a mile to get there.

After much maneuvering and negotiating I got her to agree to talk to the doctor about squeezing me in to her completely booked schedule sometime in the next 3 months.

Great.

Off to the mall, shopping I must go. Did I mention that I hate shopping?

Part of my problem is I always know exactly what I want which is sometimes worse than having no clue as to what you want. When you don’t know what you want you can browse and when something catches your eye you’re usually happy with your find. When you know exactly what you want they either have it or don’t.

I wanted either a gold or red sweater made of a heavy smooth fabric with a large, loose turtleneck and glitter specks. I know, a little too precise. But I would have taken something close.

There was nothing. NOTHING!

Well, nothing if you consider nothing consisting of holiday dresses that are so beaded I would need two other people to help me stay upright, tops with enough sequins to reflect moonlight into daylight, or hideous knit creations that even my grandma would have laughed at.

So I moved on to the next store. And the next. And the next.

Finally my feet were hurting so I sat down in the food court for some pizza. The pizza was pretty good. I started to feel a little better.

Okay, Sherri, you’ll be fine. I’m sure there’ll be something at the next store.

And just as I was feeling better I bit my lip.

Actually, I mauled my lip. I bit into it so deeply that blood was spurting out.

I trudged over to the next store, still fighting my frustrations from the day. I walked around aimlessly from rack to rack passing the same items two and three times. I was tired, I was cranky….I….I saw a sweater.

Not a holiday sweater, but one that I REALLY liked nonetheless.

Okay, I’m going to try it on. At least I’ll get one thing I like and salvage the night.

I tried on the sweater and it was at the borderline between really awesome and I wouldn’t be caught dead leaving the house in it. Do you know what I mean? It’s a decision that you can’t make on your own. You MUST have a girlfriend with you to give you feedback. I thought about asking a stranger, but figured they’d just lie to me.

As I took the sweater off, I realized that my black pants were covered with fuzz. And ladies, it was the kind of fuzz that you can’t wipe off. I was completely coated.

I threw my coat on over my now fuzz covered pants and decided I was going to leave the mall. As I was driving home I gave myself a pep talk.

It’s not that bad. You’re just frustrated from the day. Things will get better.

I decided I would hit one more store on the way home. I went in looked around, saw nothing and decided that I would just go home. I walked out to my car and as I opened the door I heard a pinging sound on the ground.

I looked down and there lying in the slush left from the melting snow was a button. A button off my coat to be precise. At that moment all the energy drained from me. The button on the ground just symbolized all the unfortunate events of my day.

I picked up the button and put it in my pocket and drove home.