You May Be Blinded By My Awesomeness

Cora says I have a way with people.  She says I am...forgive me, it's her word, not mine...Charming.  I don't really know what she means.  She explains it to me that I am better at getting people to be agreeable to my wishes more than others.  I don't think I do anything special, but she just calls it charm.

There are several examples she cites:   At the bank, for instance, they used to give Cora a bad time if she did not fill out the deposit slip before she got to the counter.  THAT has NEVER been the case for me.  I can walk up and tell the teller what I want and it gets done with very little problem, with or without the deposit slip.

That's not all.  With our adoption agency I seem to have a better chance of getting information out of them than Cora does.  I have had luck with bill collectors.  You know the type:  "We have assessed a fee to your account because the billing day landed on a Tuesday, your last name begins with 'H,' and the computer does not like 'H's'"  So I call them up and ask why we have been assessed such a charge.  I don't usually raise my voice or complain too loudly.  They generally take off the charge.  Nice.

There are other things that she accuses me of being charming over.  Usually I just chalk it up to her being an unbelievably generous wife.  Today, though, I am inclined to believe her for once.

I went in to the local copy shop today.  They quoted me a per copy price self-serve a couple weeks ago, but since Office Depot had such a great deal a couple weeks ago, we went with Office Depot for our coloring books.  That sale is over now, though.  So, the choice is go back to Office Depot or go to the local shop for slightly less.  I chose the local shop.

I got there with both of our coloring book original sets.  I walked in, ready to do the whole self-serve thing.  Then I read that for over 100 copies I needed to speak with an employee.  So, I spoke to an employee.  She came over and I asked her about the 100 copies thing, she typed in her password.  I then asked about the cover, since that is thicker paper.  She said she would run the covers on the machine behind the counter because the public ones are picky, but she said she would only charge me the self-serve price.

So, while she was doing that, I asked if the public ones would handle the regular copies in a manner that would be acceptable to the coloring book.  She hesitated a moment and said she would do them behind the counter, too.  I clarified that this would be for the self-serve price because I did not mind doing it myself.  She said yes.

While we waited, I showed her our coloring book, since I'd brought one in to match the cover.  I also mentioned that this was for a fund raiser, and showed her a picture of Aiden.  I told her I am a teacher and kids seem to like my coloring sheets.  She looked over my coloring book and seemed to appreciate it. went to help another customer and I waited.  One of the other employees had looked at the coloring book.  She stood nearby.  I asked if she had kids.  She said yes.  I asked if she would like a coloring sheet for them.  She said yes.  I went out to the car to get one...no sheets.  I had blank paper, so I took a few sheets in and drew three pictures for her.  She and the other two watched as I drew the pictures.  She took the coloring sheets, thanked me, and went to help another customer.

When the copies were finished, she told me in a secretive voice that she had given me the Office Depot sale price instead of the regular self-serve price!  I thanked her profusely and promised to tell no one!  (Technically, I have told no one here, since you have no idea where I went)  I told her she didn't have to do that, but I wasn't going to beg her to charge me more.

I don't know about the other things, but I am going to claim full credit for being awesome today.  I'll paraphrase what Po said in Kung Fu Panda, You cannot look directly at me, for you may be blinded by my shear awesomeness!