Laugh

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of shoes and men

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One of my joys of coming home was seeing Joyce again. (Joyce is our "house helper" and a dear friend.) Yesterday, we had an amusing conversation. Joyce was looking at a pair of shoes I got when I was in the States...

Joyce: "These shoes are so nice."

Me: "Thanks. I like them, too. Niel doesn't really like them, though. He says they look like old lady shoes."

Joyce: "What do men know about shoes anyway?!"

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(b)anal accusations

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While I know that I'm a perfectionistic, detail-oriented person, I certainly don't expect to have this pointed out by complete strangers. Niel and I recently made a rather large purchase, which in the past month seems to have undergone more than the usual expected wear and tear. With us having paid as much as we did, I was not happy about all the scratches and discoloration. I figure if it wore this much in the first month, what will it look like a year from now?

So we took it back to the store to find out what could be done. After much discussion with the store clerk and then the manager, our options were laid before us:

  1. They could repair the item at no charge. This, to me, wasn't really a solution as the damage would continue again after the repair.
  2. We could exchange the item for something else. But after much looking, we weren't really happy about any of the other available items.
  3. We could return it for a full refund. As I love our purchase, I would have been disappointed to have to go this route.

Then the manager offered a fourth solution. She looked me right in the eye and said:

"Or...you could just not be so anal."

Niel, my knight (without the armor), rose to my defense and dealt a hand of rudeness right back at her.

Anal? You betcha!