Choose One

Today I had the worst experience with customer service in my life.
It was at Ikea (a pretty overwhelming place to begin with), I was running on 4 hours of sleep, and Georgia wanted to take another nap.

The story is long, but it pretty much had to do with about 12 employees that WOULDN'T help me and claimed it was because their policies were Swedish. At one point, I said: "I'm pretty sure there's no 'culture' excuse for bad customer service."

How I said this, though is what I would like to talk about.

I have dealt with poor customer service in the past (it is my biggest pet peeve). Sometimes, I am calm and blunt. Other times, doe eyed and innocent as if begging them to answer the question of why they are being so horrible. At least, that's how I act when I am not a.) exhausted b.) carrying around a baby who refuses to walk or go in the cart and c.) have been lost for an hour with no help.

It is in those moments that I have to make a behavioral choice between what I can see as the only rational options for the situation:

 Swear, or cry. 

When I'm at my end, I usually take the irate swearing route. I've found that one "damn" can really get you what you want quickly. You WILL look like a jerk, and they WILL talk about you behind your back about it.

But sometimes, on days like today, I cry. I honestly can't remember when I did that last. I don't know if I've ever taken the crying route before. Today though, I was so tired and frustrated and I started to take the whole situation really personally. I ended up in sobs to a manager. I never did get the service I wanted. I wonder if the tried and true damning them all to hell would have gotten me my desired result. Just know that if you cry, you WILL look crazy, and they WILL talk about you behind your back about it.

No matter what you choose, at least in the end you'll get the white mosquito net to hang above your daughter's crib, a 24 pack of candles and a napkin holder.