I don't send food back. Sorry, Gordon Ramsay.
If a hairstylist butchers my haircut, I say "thank you" and leave a nice tip.
If someone is in my way, I usually float around awkwardly and wait for them to move.
If a cashier gets excited when assuming I share her Jewish heritage, I just accept the kosher dill, mutter "shalom" and move on. (True story...thanks to my Hebrew ring)
If someone runs into me in their hurry to get somewhere, it's usually my instinct to apologize.
It is taking me a lifetime to learn how to be able to speak up or simply ask for what I need. As ridiculous as it may seem, it's something my personality type (ENFJ) struggles with. I have a fear of being seen as a jerk, and sometimes take this fear to unhealthy extremes. I'm working on it. I should know by now that having needs, preferences, or a simple comment doesn't make me a drama queen.
Typing out "drama queen" made me realize that my current "need" is Dairy Queen. Cookie Dough Blizzard. What up.
Oddly enough, I find hope in the fact that I used to be MUCH worse. Seriously. I remember falling off the top bunk at camp one night in middle school. First, let me pause for a second to let the hilarity of someone falling off of a bunk bed sink in...and then continue to tell you that I didn't get back in bed that night for fear of waking up my bunk-mate. The beds were squeaky, so I slept on the floor. Concrete CAMP floor. Do you know how many diseases I exposed myself to that night?
Anyhow, all of this to lay the groundwork for this bombshell...recently, I honked at someone. I was sitting in traffic...the light turned green...and the car in front of me didn't move for a solid 5 seconds. Without really having to think about it, I honked! The lady in front of me noticed her mistake and quickly moved. I was instantly proud of myself! How adult of me. How mature of me. Proof of intrapersonal growth, y'all!
We soon came to another red light (same woman still in front of me), so I did what any mature adult would do when reaching a clear milestone in their life. I got my phone out to tweet the following: "I just honked at someone. I'm becoming an adult, one step at a time!" As I was typing, I began to rest my wrists and the phone on the center of my steering wheel when....HOOOOOOOONK!! As it turns out, my car has a SUPER sensitive horn. I looked up and saw the traffic light - still beaming just as red as my face was at that moment. The innocent woman in front of me threw her arms up in that universal sign for "what the heck is wrong with you?" I kept repeating "I am so sorry" (as if she could hear me) and, for some odd reason, touched my hands to the roof of my car...as if keeping them as far away from the steering wheel as was physically possible would reverse the damage.
Oh well. I guess there's no sense in worrying about looking like a jerk if I'm accidentally going to be one anyways.
In other news, the next two weeks of my life are filled with magic and excitement! First, I get to see about a million things that I designed become real at the Quidditch World Cup VI. Then, I'm going to South Korea for no other reason than to satisfy a craving for adventure.
I'm also still craving a that cookie dough blizzard, though.
Shalom.
