This week was challenging. A lot of things went wrong and I had to fix them, the contractor was on my last nerve, I didn't sleep much at all, and it was far more stressful than normal. I wasn't at my nicest.
I like to be nice ordinarily. You don't piss me off, and I'll be nice(ish). But when 4 people piss me off in a week and I'm getting very, very little sleep, it's a recipe for me to be not so nice. And at that point, if you even start to annoy me, I'll make you regret it.
What turned out to be funny is that although I was completely disagreeable by the end of this week, my disagreeableness actually worked to my advantage. Yesterday I was pissed at the dentist's office. They charged me $112 for something that I was told that insurance would cover completely. I was Ms. McBitchy with them because I had already passed the point of even pretending to be nicey-nice. I said that if they didn't remove it, I would find another dentist. (I have absolutely no doctor or dentist loyalty, so this is absolutely true.) I was told the dentist would personally be contacted, and a few hours later, lo and behold, he removed the charges.
Then of course the contractor pissed me off for the 7th time this week. I called him and left him a highly irritated, bitchy voicemail on his phone - with the tone that you have reached the last straw, and your ass will be grass. He called me back within 5 minutes and pleaded for forgiveness and promised on his mother's grave that it would be fixed on Monday. Of all the times that he's said that he will do something (and doesn't), this is the one time I actually believe that he'll fix it on Monday.
All because I brought Ms. McBitchy out. I wonder if I'd get more done if I brought her out more often. The thing is, I hate being that way. I actually do want to be nice. A lot of times nice just doesn't hack it unfortunately. With men, in particular, I find that if I get in their face a little, most will back down and do whatever you want. Again, I don't like to do it, but it's one tactic, and it can be used quite effectively.
I don't think I ever used the tactic on my husband. He learned quickly what will piss me off (not doing what you say you're going to do, namely), and has largely eluded pissing me off for over a decade.
5 comments:
My baseline is McBitchy. But I'm charmingly McBithcy!
Hm. I'm usually a very calm and friendly person, but when people start "bitching" at me or "getting in my face", I tend to get defensive and escalate the conflict rather than backing down. Doesn't sound like most of the people you've encountered, so maybe I'm weird.
W, not so. You just know what you want.
J, that's how I am as well, particularly if how they're acting is unwarranted. Don't like bullies. Although this time I was nice multiple times, and I kept getting ignored and/or put off. Contacted a week ago, was told he'd be out Monday. He didn't come out Monday, called on Tuesday, said he'd be out Friday. Didn't come out on Friday. Multiple chances, and then I get angry.
So, did it work? Is the roof done?
Well, he came by. But it's not done, some song and dance about mortar (they screwed up the brick turret).
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