Bad customer service in the autumn of life

Dealt:

Woke up to an email from MB Customer Service saying they regret to inform me that they cannot reverse my credit card's late charges because I paid after the deadline.

Fuckers.

So, for maybe the second time in my life, I sent an email complete with ALL CAPS, BOLD, red text, and underlines. In some cases,  ALL THREE TOGETHER. There was an ! somewhere in there too.

Among the formatting expletives, there were screenshots and reference numbers to show that I tried to pay a full 9 days before the deadline, but their system failed. And didn't tell me it failed.

The most exasperating part is that the last email was obviously sent by an ignorant millenial who did not bother to investigate more than an inch deep into the situation, and responded without using their out of shape brain.

But what I'm wondering at is, for the first time in my decades' experience of bad customer service, I'm actually showing anger in written form. Is it because I'm turning 50 in a month?

They say that as you get older, you lose that filter that keeps you from telling fuckers that they can go shoot themselves twice since they will miss the first time for sure. Maybe my filter is peeling away, and the regenerative cells are dying.

What a relief! To be able to tell people to their faces what I really think of them without hesitation or fear or regret. Is it the fact that you know deep down that you will die soon, and what that other person thinks is no longer of consequence?

We should be born dying. We actually are, we just don't realize it until we turn 49, 11 months, and two days.

Hand

Pursuit of Happyness pt 2

Maybe happiness is found when you focus all your moments on getting the needful task done, not in the search for what will give you pleasure. The sense of fulfillment, no matter how small the task, will get you through the most difficult of times. And in times of abundance, the joy is brighter, sharper.

Wash the dishes, sweep the floor, pay the bill, do the accounting. Don't think about it, just do it. The rest should follow.

Hand:

Mind Room

Not mind palace, only Sherlocks and Cromwells have those.

My mind is like a room, thoughts like familiar furniture, revisited everyday, dusted sometimes. Think minimalist: white tiled floor, the bare necessities in their corners, side tables with things I use everyday- hairbrush, ponytail, a rag for wiping. Ooh, there's a piano too. My kindle is always just there.

On the floor are Things To Do in packed and unpacked boxes. Sometimes the floor is clear and all I have to do is sweep away the dust and mop away the spills. But today they are cluttered about the room, and I can't think straight tripping over these boxes.

The Game

All right, this is how we will play. 

I'm not much of a card player, but the metaphor was too deliciously apt. Let's suppose that every card has its ranking from top (best) to bottom (worst). For example: Aces are top and the 2 is bottom. 

Ace
King
Queen
Jack
10 ... down to 2 huhu

For suits, from top to bottom: 

Spades
Hearts
Diamonds
Clubs

Each situation in these stories will be symbolized as a single card deal to add to a card or set of cards you already hold. The situation's outcome is the hand you have after the card is dealt.

The first card

The first card is 'Dealt', which tells you if the thing that happened was good or bad, and to what level.

An Ace of Spades is the best.thing.ever, like falling in love, or winning a million dollars free of tax and hangers on.

best.thing.ever.

A Two of Clubs is just about rock bottom (let's not give examples)

rock bottom

Everything else in between are different levels of yayy, fuck that, and meh.

pretty great!

meh

The second card/s

Let's say you were dealt a 2 of clubs (worst.thing.ever.), but in your hand you had a 2 of spades and a 2 of hearts.

surviving not thriving

 After you've been dealt, you have a pretty rockin' hand:

chicken dinner

importance of consequences

 It is a very bad thing to not allow children to reap the consequences of their actions. Impunity will breed a lack of accountability, laziness, and victim mentality. Case in point: my own son.

...

It is good for the soul to be loved. But it is bad for the character to be pampered, or smothered.

They say there is strength in being able to ask for help, but that only comes when you have tried to help yourself. There is also strength in refusing help, when you know you can do it for yourself.

Pursuit of Happiness

(Taking up this title from over two years ago, not having any recollection of what it was supposed to be about at the time.)

The pursuit of happiness as a constitutional right is just wrong.

What effect could it have, except to develop the misconception that happiness is something that is pursued, and even worse, something you have a right to? Happiness is an emotion, like anger, frustration, sadness. It cannot live in a vacuum without becoming one. It gets it value precisely in its contrast to sadness/anger/frustration.

Rather, happiness should be considered a side effect. The real pursuits should be for Purpose, Goodness, Truth, Knowledge, Unity. When we achieve these, happiness is just the side effect.

for our own protection

Is it for our own protection that the mind is unable to recall the worst moments ever?