I ain't no doormat!

I don't enjoy confrontation. In fact I somewhat dread it. I'm a peaceful guy, I don't like to get into arguments. Most of the time, if I don't get my way, I just deal with it. If my donut doesn't have as much filling as I had hoped, I deal with it. I'm not the type to go confronting people. I like to lay low, not cause a scene.

But today I'd had it up to here (making hand motion). Aubrey has taken our car to Gerald's twice in the last two weeks to get a flat tire fixed, and they have not fixed it. The first time, she also asked to have the tires rotated, and they didn't do that either. Yesterday when she went in, she told them that the tire was still flat, and it had a bolt in it, and would they please fix it right this time? So this morning, when I saw that the tire was still flat, and still had a bolt in it, I was somewhat peeved.

I called Gerald's and asked to speak to the manager. I explained the problem, and told him I would be coming over right away to have the tire fixed. Aubrey had to drive to Spartanburg this afternoon, so we needed the car to work. On the drive over to Gerald's, I alternated between planning what I was going to say to this manager when I laid eyes on him, and being really nervous about the upcoming confrontation. I don't like confrontation. My heart was pounding. I knew I was going to wimp out, and tell him it was really no big deal, and that the truth is that I enjoy flat tires and any excuse to come to Gerald's is a good one! I kept telling myself, "Be Andrew, Be Andrew."

When I got there, I left the car out front, rather than around the side, as a sign of defiance. I went inside and kindly asked for the manager, there was no sense wasting preplanned lines of confrontation on someone who couldn't really help. At first I didn't have to be to nasty, the manager quickly rallied some guys to get my car into a spot, and he looked at the tire. He said I would need a brand new tire (duh, why hadn't he realized this yesterday?). The tire was under warranty, so naturally it would be free. He said I would only have to pay $6.95. And this is when I sprung into action. With my heart pounding, and my vision nearly blurring around the edges, I confronted, "I assume you'll cover that for me?" He thought I was talking about the tire, and said oh yes, reassuring me I would only have to pay $6.95. And it did sound like a good deal, I mean $6.95 isn't much, right? But no, I would not be walked upon. I girded my loins, and told him that this was my third trip to get a flat tire fixed, he had wasted a lot of my time, and I expected that he would cover my bill. He totally caved. It was awesome. I called him out on his bad service and got my way.

Then this afternoon one of our local panhandlers was hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the credit union again. So I sternly walked out the door and told him to take his show on the road. He tried to get all friendly with me, and act like we were pals. I told him if he wasn't moving in about two seconds I was calling the police. And believe me, its not hard to summon police to a bank.

Look out world, Confrontational-Jeff is on the loose!