State of Feeling

Sometimes we really need to stop and get a hold on our "state of feeling" before we perform a task. This can range from simply calling customer support for something to requesting something at your local store.
Real life example: I saw a sale on something that I wanted to buy at the drugstore in our Sunday Circular. I went to the store to buy it and didn't see it. When I inquired about it, the girl behind the counter didn't know what a Circular was. I tried to explain it, calling it the pull out from the Sun. paper or the ad from it. She said, "Do you mean the coupons"
This went on for about 5 minutes. It was kind of exasberating and it took a tremendously long time for the girl to understand what I was talking about. When she finally "got it" she pulled the advertisement that I was talking about out. I told her what I was looking for, which I couldn't find. She said that they didn't sell that product. I actually had to point to the ad to show her that they did. She then looked to see if they had it and they were out. This concluded with her grudgingly giving me a raincheck.
Now, I admit that I was loosing my patience while this was happening. It was morning and I was pretty tired, not a good state for me. I don't think that anything would have been different with this girl, but I at least would have started laughing if I hadn't been in a tired state.
A week later I went in with my raincheck and they still didn't have it. I finally got someone to tell me that the item comes in on Sat.. I'm not in the area on Sat.'s, I explained. This got me no where and I left the store vowing to stay away from there for a while.
OK, it's a month later and I finally want back in because they are in a convienent location to where I sometimes work. I got in line. It was the afternoon and the workers were a different crew. When I presented my raincheck, I explained to the clerk that the item is never there when I come in. She replied that it comes in on Sat.. I told her that I'm not in the area on Sat.s. I smiled the whole time (sincerely) and told her this was my third shot at it. She told me to call the manager to see what he could do. I asked if he was there, and he happened to be walking by. It was his day off but he stopped to talk to me. He told me that he was new and would personally order extra bottles of what I wanted. When he walked away, the clerk and I laughed and she wrote me a new raincheck, but for 2 bottles.
What's the message: smile, patience, persistence.
sometimes things won't go your way, but it's much cooler to laugh about it