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missautopsyI do. Hate them. Very much. I'm sick to death of people.
I bought tickets in late April to take my Mom to see Phantom of the Opera as a Mother's Day gift and, as most of you know, my Mom was diagnosed with Stage III Ovarian Cancer on May 19th. Since then, she has had major surgery and is still recovering. Mom has three out of six chemo treatments under her belt to date. The first treatment made her very ill; nausea, vomiting, weakness, etc...she could not stay up for very long spans at any given time. The Second Cycle she actually did much better; she felt weak and tired and she still had a bit of difficulty staying up for very long, but she was not nearly as sick and when she was it didn't last long at all. The Third Cycle, which she received last Thursday, has made her deathly ill: extreme nausea, she's weak as a kitten and she hasn't been out of bed much since Thursday. Saturday we had a birthday celebration for my little brother's 29 birthday--we all went out to dinner, Mom included, but she had to go to the car to lay down she was hurting so much.
So, of course Thursday is the day of the show and I'm afraid she won't be able to go since she's still feeling so poorly. She wants to go, desperately, and keeps telling me she's going to try. I'm not worried at all about the money; all I want is for her to go out and enjoy herself. We were talking and had figured that if we could get tickets for a later date (it runs through September 25th) that she may feel more like going since the chemo has been so hard on her this round. So, I call the Fox Box Office thinking firstly, they may let me exchange the tickets and some lucky schmuck would wind up with excellent seats that I reserved months ago. Secondly, if an exchange isn't possible, I was at least hoping they could help me locate good seats for a future date. (Again, cost not being an object--money is tight, but seeing my Mom enjoy a night out is worth whatever it takes). I called the Box Office and spoke with the rudest woman I've encountered in some time. I was about to attempt a brief description of what I needed to do and why, but she cut me off saying, "...before you waste anymore of my time..." and proceeds to inform me she will not be helping me. Typically, I would never take anything like this from such a scum-sucking highfalutin bitch; however, I was sitting at my desk surrounded by attorneys, co-workers and our programming team, so I opted to remain calm and courteous and simply ask her to direct me to a number where someone would help me, since I was so obviously wasting her time. She gave me the number to Ticketmaster. Okay. Fine. So I call Ticketmaster, knowing the no refund/no exchange policy, but I figured I'd try anyway. I actually got a relatively nice guy who was very apologetic while letting me know were it up to him, he'd switch tickets in a heartbeat for me and in the meantime, he managed to locate two seats on rows A and B very near the stage, but the only problem is we could not sit together. I thanked him kindly for his time and decided to try another route. I figured if I can somehow work out advanced parking to have her close to the door, then she may be able to make it inside with little problem. She seemed to think she would be okay if she's sitting down, but a long walk to the theatre and having to stand around for very long would be too much. So, hesitantly, I call the Fox Box Office line again thinking at the very least they can help me with parking at the theatre. Wrong again. This time another operator answered; not quite as beastly as the first, but still letting me now she would not be helping me either. Okay, so my first question is this: 'What are these women being paid to do?' and my second question is, 'what is the point of having a customer service line if you are not going to assist and offer the customer service?' So now I'm left wondering what to do...I can't get her there too early to ensure good parking because she does not need to be sitting up for so long, but I cannot secure special parking because the nimrods at the Fox are unwilling to help me figure out the nearest lot (which if memory serves correctly is immediately to the right of the theatre).
[I have worked in the customer service industry and I have never, even when having a bad day, been discourteous or rude to anyone, even when they are rude to me. Granted I'd like to bitch-slap the customer at times and ask them what their problem is, but...alas, I have this thing called a work ethic. I worked at a video store in college and was cursed backwards and forwards by some woman because she owed late fees for a film. Okay, yes, I'm the one who rented [insert random Shannon Tweed film title here] and kept it for a week past its due date. Sure I wanted to tell her to go to hell and if she looked more like Shannon Tweed, her husband wouldn't be spankin' it for so long to bad softcore adult films, but that darned work ethic had me biting my tongue. I did manage to exact a very simple revenge on her months later when I worked at a gift shop--I wrapped her husband's elegant desk set in horrid pastel polka dot baby gift wrap instead of the tasteful burgundy and gold. It looked like the baby vomited ribbon and polka dots by the time I finished...]
...ramble, ramble, ramble...I guess what it boils down to is people suck. I'm sick of being nice to people who aren't nice to me and I think it's safe to say those days are long gone. I did develop this thing called a 'backbone' and I don't hesitate to tell people what I think about things now. I used to be relatively passive, but when you're screwed over enough times, you tend to lose those passive tendencies. Mind you, I'm still a very easy-going person and as long as I'm shown courtesy and respect, I'll continue to return the kindness.
I may be offering up two Phantom tickets later this week depending on how Mom is doing. I don't plan to attend if she can't go, so anyone interested can keep watch on my journal just in case--I'd love to recoup a little money, but moreso, I'd rather someone enjoy the show than to see the tickets go to waste.
I bought tickets in late April to take my Mom to see Phantom of the Opera as a Mother's Day gift and, as most of you know, my Mom was diagnosed with Stage III Ovarian Cancer on May 19th. Since then, she has had major surgery and is still recovering. Mom has three out of six chemo treatments under her belt to date. The first treatment made her very ill; nausea, vomiting, weakness, etc...she could not stay up for very long spans at any given time. The Second Cycle she actually did much better; she felt weak and tired and she still had a bit of difficulty staying up for very long, but she was not nearly as sick and when she was it didn't last long at all. The Third Cycle, which she received last Thursday, has made her deathly ill: extreme nausea, she's weak as a kitten and she hasn't been out of bed much since Thursday. Saturday we had a birthday celebration for my little brother's 29 birthday--we all went out to dinner, Mom included, but she had to go to the car to lay down she was hurting so much.
So, of course Thursday is the day of the show and I'm afraid she won't be able to go since she's still feeling so poorly. She wants to go, desperately, and keeps telling me she's going to try. I'm not worried at all about the money; all I want is for her to go out and enjoy herself. We were talking and had figured that if we could get tickets for a later date (it runs through September 25th) that she may feel more like going since the chemo has been so hard on her this round. So, I call the Fox Box Office thinking firstly, they may let me exchange the tickets and some lucky schmuck would wind up with excellent seats that I reserved months ago. Secondly, if an exchange isn't possible, I was at least hoping they could help me locate good seats for a future date. (Again, cost not being an object--money is tight, but seeing my Mom enjoy a night out is worth whatever it takes). I called the Box Office and spoke with the rudest woman I've encountered in some time. I was about to attempt a brief description of what I needed to do and why, but she cut me off saying, "...before you waste anymore of my time..." and proceeds to inform me she will not be helping me. Typically, I would never take anything like this from such a scum-sucking highfalutin bitch; however, I was sitting at my desk surrounded by attorneys, co-workers and our programming team, so I opted to remain calm and courteous and simply ask her to direct me to a number where someone would help me, since I was so obviously wasting her time. She gave me the number to Ticketmaster. Okay. Fine. So I call Ticketmaster, knowing the no refund/no exchange policy, but I figured I'd try anyway. I actually got a relatively nice guy who was very apologetic while letting me know were it up to him, he'd switch tickets in a heartbeat for me and in the meantime, he managed to locate two seats on rows A and B very near the stage, but the only problem is we could not sit together. I thanked him kindly for his time and decided to try another route. I figured if I can somehow work out advanced parking to have her close to the door, then she may be able to make it inside with little problem. She seemed to think she would be okay if she's sitting down, but a long walk to the theatre and having to stand around for very long would be too much. So, hesitantly, I call the Fox Box Office line again thinking at the very least they can help me with parking at the theatre. Wrong again. This time another operator answered; not quite as beastly as the first, but still letting me now she would not be helping me either. Okay, so my first question is this: 'What are these women being paid to do?' and my second question is, 'what is the point of having a customer service line if you are not going to assist and offer the customer service?' So now I'm left wondering what to do...I can't get her there too early to ensure good parking because she does not need to be sitting up for so long, but I cannot secure special parking because the nimrods at the Fox are unwilling to help me figure out the nearest lot (which if memory serves correctly is immediately to the right of the theatre).
[I have worked in the customer service industry and I have never, even when having a bad day, been discourteous or rude to anyone, even when they are rude to me. Granted I'd like to bitch-slap the customer at times and ask them what their problem is, but...alas, I have this thing called a work ethic. I worked at a video store in college and was cursed backwards and forwards by some woman because she owed late fees for a film. Okay, yes, I'm the one who rented [insert random Shannon Tweed film title here] and kept it for a week past its due date. Sure I wanted to tell her to go to hell and if she looked more like Shannon Tweed, her husband wouldn't be spankin' it for so long to bad softcore adult films, but that darned work ethic had me biting my tongue. I did manage to exact a very simple revenge on her months later when I worked at a gift shop--I wrapped her husband's elegant desk set in horrid pastel polka dot baby gift wrap instead of the tasteful burgundy and gold. It looked like the baby vomited ribbon and polka dots by the time I finished...]
...ramble, ramble, ramble...I guess what it boils down to is people suck. I'm sick of being nice to people who aren't nice to me and I think it's safe to say those days are long gone. I did develop this thing called a 'backbone' and I don't hesitate to tell people what I think about things now. I used to be relatively passive, but when you're screwed over enough times, you tend to lose those passive tendencies. Mind you, I'm still a very easy-going person and as long as I'm shown courtesy and respect, I'll continue to return the kindness.
I may be offering up two Phantom tickets later this week depending on how Mom is doing. I don't plan to attend if she can't go, so anyone interested can keep watch on my journal just in case--I'd love to recoup a little money, but moreso, I'd rather someone enjoy the show than to see the tickets go to waste.
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no subject
on 2005-08-30 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-30 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 02:39 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-30 11:36 pm (UTC)Sorry about all this. Hope everything else is going well and you're looking forward to Dcon
no subject
on 2005-08-31 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 02:43 am (UTC)I also thought that if I would end up spending the cost of the tickets a second time, then I should just rent a limo that would take us to the door, pick us up when it's over and she can lay back and rest on the way to and from the show! (Now, I'm kinda liking that thought! ;-)) I think she will be okay during the show it's just all the getting in and out--I would imagine there are wheelchairs we could get her to her seat (but I sincerely doubt she would go for that...)
Your idea is definitely worth checking into!
no subject
on 2005-08-31 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-08-31 04:51 am (UTC)Maybe you just have to push but I've done it 2 times and the freaks you are talking to are just assholes.
God I hate assholes.
no subject
on 2005-08-31 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-09-01 12:44 am (UTC)Totally random thought...
on 2005-09-01 03:01 am (UTC)God I hate assholes
And thought...
"Yeah... but... wouldn't you hate not to have one?"
Re: Totally random thought...
on 2005-09-01 04:52 am (UTC)