A Journal of My Mid-Life Crisis

1 November 1998 - Sources of Frustration

Part 1: Moving Frustration

I had a very negative experience with Starving Students. Scheduling the move was all easy enough and pleasant enough and I carefully explained to the people at the corporate office that I had a completely filled 10 foot by 10 foot storage space, some of the contents of which would be moved to my apartment. Apparently, this message didn't really filter down to the local people.

I had been told, since it was an afternoon move, that they would call me between 1 and 5 p.m. and I had explained it would take me about 10 minutes to get over to the space. I was pleased to get a call at about 12:30 saying they were on their way. At 12:40 or so, I was there. At 1:20 I was still waiting - so I called them. And all they could tell me was there had been a minor problem with the truck but they should be there any minute. At 1:55, I called again. This time the story was that the truck had broken down and they had rented another truck and would be there any minute. The need to rent another truck struck me as a bit weird, but things happen and I could live with it and I was trying very hard to control my anger. At 3:00 nobody had showed and I called yet again. This time, the guy in the office seemed puzzled and said he'd page the guys. Before he called back, they did show.

And then it turned out that they didn't have the proper equipment - like a ladder to get things safely down from the higher parts of the space. They hadn't understood that the space was completely filled. So they didn't do the job. Of course, I didn't give them any money and just went back to Lonny and Lauren's and called another company (the ones who had moved the stuff into the space in the first place).

The thing I really wanted to write about in this whole incident has more to do with my reactions. I don't like how I deal with anger. I find myself getting very agitated, pounding on things in frustration and raising my voice - none of which is exactly very useful. What was ironic in this whole thing is that while I was waiting I had been thumbing through The Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Workbook - which, by the way, I had bought because I felt I had overreacted to the minor car trouble on my road trip. Obviously, I still have a lot of work to do in keeping perspective on things. (Which was one of the things I've said all along was a reason for my taking the time out to travel.)

Part 2: The Other Major Sources of Frustration in My Life

(a) I managed to survive several months in the 3rd World without major illness. And now I have been felled most of today by food poisoning.

(b) I talked on the phone with Robert on Tuesday. I really should someday resolve what on earth I am doing with him.

(d) I am dreading going back to work tomorrow.

Forget it - this is too depressing. I'm going back to bed!