I AM THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!

I love it when somebody does something to make me feel like all hope is not lost. I love it when I can hang up the telephone and think "Gee, that was great. I'm so glad I called to ask for help."

It all started on Saturday when I opened my mailbox to discover what looked like the Just Cross Stitch ornament issue. I say "what looked like" because I either a) really ticked off my mail carrier or b) a band of gypsies broke into the box during the night and used the magazine for some type of ceremonial dancing ritual that involved the tearing and ripping and the otherwise disrespecting of craft magazines. It was a mess and despite our best efforts, neither Chrissy nor my very self were able to read/enjoy it. At all.

So today I picked up the phone and called the folks at Just Cross Stitch and do you know what they said? "Gosh, Miss Rich, we're so sorry for in the inconvenience. We'll get a new copy out to you."

I don't know why I sat there in stunned silence. I mean, it's a cross stich magazine and not the secret of the lost tomb, so why wouldn't they be willing to send me another copy? I guess I just expected them to say "Sure we can send you another one. Just fork over a credit card and pay for it all over again and we'll get to it when we get to it." But that didn't happen. They were friendly and helpful and willing to help me. Sa-weeet.

So then I got cocky and called Shepherd's Bush. I bought a chart last year called "Autumn Blessings", but I didn't actually open it and look at it until a few days ago. Sadly, two of the silks were missing and I didn't have a little package of buttons. Since I had never opened it, I was pretty sure that I hadn't used either, so I called SB to ask if I could order replacements. Nope. Couldn't order them...they would be happy to replace them for me at no charge because "we might have missed them here on our end, Miss Rich, and we're sorry for your inconvenience." Oh, and did I mention that they are in the middle of their retreat, yet the person on the phone was lovely and helpful and friendly and not at all peeved that I was interrupting something?

Is it just me, or is this type of lovely customer service missing in the world? Here I am, happy dancing all over the place because people just "did their job", yet I feel like they went above and beyond. Sad, or just the new state of affairs?

This reminds me of a story...as most all thing do.

I had moved back to South Bend in 1999 and on my way to work each morning I stopped at my local McDonald's for breakfast. (I'd love to tell you that it was a friut and granola or something else totally healthy, but an Egg McMuffin might have been involved a time or two.) But I digress. So each day I place my order and then pay at the first window and as I drive to the second window, my food bag is thrust out of said window with nary a good morning, screw you, drop dead, or kiss my ass. I let it go for about a month, but then one day in some kind of fit, I grabbed the bag and the hand all at the same time and yelled at the poor kid holding said bag: "I am an angry white woman who just wants a little courtesy with her damn breakfast. Would it KILL you to say something to me once in a while? Would it? Huh huh? Would it? I will NOT be DISRESPECTED, do you understand?!!!" I thought the poor kid was going to have a heart attack and that the breakfast police would come haul me to jail, but I managed to get a "Good morning, Miss. Have a nice day." from that point onward!

So the moral of the story, kids, is to exect the worst and be thrilled to pieces when it doesn't happen.