Complaints

The cleaning woman broke my vacuum.

Of this I am absolutely sure. She was the last one to use it. Trust me - I didn't even to have ask the girls if one them didn't sneak in and use it without permission; I just know.

Naturally, I am annoyed. I called her, the owner of the company, to complain. Which I say I hate to do - I don't like to be a whiner, someone who's never satisfied.

But the fact is, I have complained about the cleaning woman before. I have complained several times. One week, she totally skipped the half bath. Another week, it was our bathroom. One week, all of the sinks looked dirty; yet another week, the floors did not look as if they had been mopped. The trash was taken out in half the house (I would prefer that she didn't take out any of the trash, but why, then, only half? When I had asked them to leave it be?). Underneath the desks was not vacuumed.

I sound really picky. But I also know the size of the check I write, and I think I should get what I'm paying for. She's a very nice woman, but she does not clean well. I can only be nice for so long before I get resentful.

Looks like I'm out whatever the price of a new vacuum piece is. It's big piece. They offered to pay for it, but still, it's a pain.

*****

An acquaintance of mine told a story in a blog. This is someone I've known for a long time (though I no longer see this person) and she told a story that I know, for a fact, is not true. It hearkens back to our youth; I was there, and she totally distorted what happened.

Why do I care? Good question - I suppose because it makes her out to be someone she isn't, someone much more important. And I know she is only being half truthful. I suppose it could be the way she remembers things, but I doubt it.

I have decided not to call her on it (and I doubt if she read this, which she doesn't, she would recognize herself - she is too self-important to read this, and I'm guess she believes her version of events). I am not one to leave mean comments - why bother? When people write things I dislike or find fault with, I am not inclined to comment - I so rarely leave positive feedback, why bother with snippy comments? I guess I prefer silent loathing.

But to clarify, the vacuum story? Totally true.

*****

I grew up with a friend who was a bully.

This came back to me as I read about a workshop held in the Houston schools to help girls identify with bullying. Girls who make unkind comments about their friends, belittling them, making them feel inferior, these girls are considered bullies. And one of my "friends" displayed this behavior.

There was a group of us - at one time four, then three - and the one who somehow considered herself the most *important* constantly made cutting remarks about the rest of us. I'm not sure why we tolerated it, but we did.

And they were mean remarks - insults about how we dressed, about our houses (which never lived up to hers - though I don't recall that her house was amazing), about our families. She called my brother names, made fun of what I wore. She made fun of another friend's parents, of their jobs, their pets. We did class reports in Spanish, talking about our parent's jobs, and when one guy said his dad was a mail carrier, she somehow found that funny. (I told my mom later, and my mom, who worked in personnel at the post office at the time, said she should watch it - that boy's dad probably made more than her dad did.) Another time I mentioned going shopping after Christmas when things would be cheaper and somehow she found this worthy of her disdain - the idea of having to save money was beneath her.

(This was a not wealthy family, just so you know - she was a middle-class kid, just like I was, who grew up in a modest three-bedroom ranch house. Nice parents.)

She moved away in junior high, and when I look back at how she behaved, why she treated us, her friends, that way, I am at a loss. Why would you want to make your friends feel badly about themselves? How did this make her feel better?

I saw her a few years ago, and I am happy to say she has changed, that she outgrew this destructive behavior. I keep an eye on my own girls, and I would not care to see them participate in this behavior. Girls needs to support their friends, not victimize them.

Such a waste of energy. And for what?

*****

Must go online to order new Missouri sweatshirts ... we'll be needing something to wear in New Orleans ...