drama queens

If you read my last post, you might have thought someone would find me hanging from the water pipe that runs above my desk, or maybe with my face over a bucket of hydrogen sulfide.  It was all gloom and doom when that last post was written.  I am pleased (oh boy, am I ever pleased) to inform you that I constructed a sound argument against allowing the holiday to be spoiled, delivered this argument to my supervisor in an adult and constructive way, and won my case!!

My supervisor is young and inexperienced.  He over-reacted to his supervisor’s email.  As soon as I pointed out to him that his supervisor types everything in bold (how could he have NOT noticed that?), his whole attitude changed.  It also helped when I interpreted some of the other emails for him.  He is not experienced in our area of the business, so even though the rational course of action was spelled out fairly clearly – he just didn't recognize it.  I explained things to him and convinced him that I was not the right person for that job.  Really, I’m not.  So, I will still be making a trip down to the dreadful place for some intelligence gathering and consultation, but I won’t be climbing into any trenches, and it will very fast – down and back for a two-night visit.  And so, my readers, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year Day are still on.

The boy on the left really looks like my supervisor's picture!  I've never met him in person.

 

How silly of me to just leap into a well of despair when I first got the news.  That makes me a royal drama queen…like my girls are at times.  Emily had an ever-so-slight fender bender in the school parking lot last week.  She backed into another car and a total meltdown ensued.  She cried so much that the driver of the car she hit was apologizing to her and to me.  She is still refusing to drive since the accident; she insists driving is just too risky.

 

drama queens

 

The parking lot incident had many facets – Emily was driving Erin’s car, the other car involved was driven by a very popular boy who had friends in the car with him at the time.  A very popular girl was waiting for Emily to back out and saw it happen.  In a brief space of time, the entire school learned that Emily “wrecked” in the parking lot.  So in that time of our “discussion” when I helped Emily break the news to Erin (because she just couldn't bring her self to go this feat alone), the two girls launched into screaming hate-fest with each other.  Both were being completely irrational, like children, not the young ladies who will soon be adults in just a few more weeks.  Listening to all that venom made me want to evaporate and disappear to a nicer place.  Erin was furious, not because of the damage to her car, but because she insisted everyone would assume she was the one driving when it happened, and Emily would not set the record straight.  Emily, of course, insisted the whole school was aware that she was driving and wrecked, and that Erin was being an insensitive shrew.       

 
Having two teenage drivers on our car insurance is expensive.  The school office called me to come over but not to worry, nobody was hurt.  What a relief to see minimal damage on the boy's car, because I knew we would pay out of pocket if it made sense to.  Filing a claim would raise our rates for five years.  Both cars sustained just minor scratches, no dents.  A police report was filed but the police didn’t issue any tickets.  I called the boy’s father this week for a repair estimate, but he said they’ve decided not to have it repaired – they intended to have the car painted this spring anyway.  WHEW!  We dodged a bullet.  Erin’s car has been hit in the school parking lot so many times (hit and run), that the scratches from this incident are hardly noticeable among the dents.  We’ll just wait until after she graduates to see about having it repaired.