Today, I rushed from work to a chiropractor appointment. I have a history of having chronic headaches and, believe it or not, having a monthly adjustment has been helping me a bit. I arrived, panting, about ten minutes late (story of my life), anticipating the relief I would feel after my appointment.
I choked out my name to the person at the front desk who, puzzled, said that I didn't have an appointment. I looked at my calendar on my phone, and asked her to check again. No appointment. "You know," I said, "I've been booking appointments here for six months without a problem, but the same thing happened to me last month and the doctor actually took me anyways." "The doctor actually just left," she said.
Right about then came the point where I really wanted to do this:
I realized that the women I was talking to was the woman who had actually booked my appointment for me, last month. It was her first day then, so it was most likely her fault that it wasn't entered correctly. I was also so mad at myself for being late and not catching the doctor before she left.
Yet recently I accepted a month long no complaining challenge. I didn't complete it perfectly, but it did force me to try to think of the situation differently. In that moment, here's what I came up with:
- I'm lucky to be in the situation where a low point of my day is missing my chiropractor appointment. As my friend would point out, this is a first world problem.
- It forced me to get out of work earlier than I would have left otherwise.
- I booked an appointment for Monday with no problem.
I didn't yell at her. I calmly explained that I was frustrated, and that since they didn't confirm appointments, I didn't want to always wonder whether or not I actually had one. She wrote a note to confirm my Monday appointment, and I called it a day and walked out. I'm nowhere near perfect, but it felt good to not become a monster, and Monday isn't too long to wait.
If, that is, I actually have a Monday appointment.
I choked out my name to the person at the front desk who, puzzled, said that I didn't have an appointment. I looked at my calendar on my phone, and asked her to check again. No appointment. "You know," I said, "I've been booking appointments here for six months without a problem, but the same thing happened to me last month and the doctor actually took me anyways." "The doctor actually just left," she said.
Right about then came the point where I really wanted to do this:
I realized that the women I was talking to was the woman who had actually booked my appointment for me, last month. It was her first day then, so it was most likely her fault that it wasn't entered correctly. I was also so mad at myself for being late and not catching the doctor before she left.
Yet recently I accepted a month long no complaining challenge. I didn't complete it perfectly, but it did force me to try to think of the situation differently. In that moment, here's what I came up with:
- I'm lucky to be in the situation where a low point of my day is missing my chiropractor appointment. As my friend would point out, this is a first world problem.
- It forced me to get out of work earlier than I would have left otherwise.
- I booked an appointment for Monday with no problem.
I didn't yell at her. I calmly explained that I was frustrated, and that since they didn't confirm appointments, I didn't want to always wonder whether or not I actually had one. She wrote a note to confirm my Monday appointment, and I called it a day and walked out. I'm nowhere near perfect, but it felt good to not become a monster, and Monday isn't too long to wait.
If, that is, I actually have a Monday appointment.
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