I could make this sound like I felt eternally grateful for everything, but really, I was grumpy. Read all about it, if you dare.
I submitted a draft to our social media office, and it hit the pipeline this week. The writer/editor eliminated my M*A*S*H reference, saying that few would know the show any more. I countered by letting her know that M*A*S*H airs twice daily on MeTV these days. No go – Colonel Potter’s “Pentagon – you know, four walls and one to spare” didn’t make the final cut. Why didn’t I just take her word for it and admit I am aging? Heck, this was the same woman who tried to eliminate mention of Edna Ferber from a pop culture post last spring. She’s a decent writer, but she needs to get out more.
On my way to an appointment at the Clinic That Shall Not Be Named, I was stuck behind a line of traffic stalled by a HUGE tow truck backing into a business driveway near a busy corner. I called the clinic and told them I’d be a little late. Somehow, I thought this was the courteous thing to do. The operator on the phone wasn’t pleased. Instead of saying she’d make a note of it or some other such action, she told me to hurry up and get there as fast as I could. When she started rattling off a “ten minutes late” policy, I tuned out completely and watched the road – and hoped my blood pressure wouldn’t be off the charts when I arrived. Luckily for me (and my blood pressure), everyone else was courteous and professional.
The other moment of wisdom in the day came during an online staff development session. The leader posted a number of images of the Lincoln penny with a catch – only one was correct. The others were all photoshopped in some way. I thought “Aha! I can reach my purse with my headset on – she’ll never know!” And I pulled out a penny – that didn’t feature Lincoln. It had leaves on it. “Hey, wait, this isn’t an older wheat penny. These are -” I turned over the penny. Queen Elizabeth. I had pulled a Canadian penny from my wallet. Served me right, eh?
The solution was simple. On my way home from the Clinic That Shall Not Be Named, I picked up bunny food and M&Ms. Don’t judge me; it worked. I feel much better now!
Grumpy is always an understandable status for me recently. Curmudgeonly, snarky, grouchy, the “grizzly” so popular in Australia, will work, too. I’m uncomfortable with it sometimes, but it happens more than I’d like.
Really? They think Edna Ferber and M*A*S*H are “dated?” Pfft.
And I think it was courteous of you to call the office. Few people would have bothered to do that.
I was rather upset that it seemed the writer in the corporate office had never heard of Edna Ferber. At the least, she didn’t think Ferber was equal in importance to Houdini.