Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Expecting the Worst

I went to Wal-mart the other day.  I know.  I don't much like going there either.  It's too crowded.  People are always blocking the aisles to carry on a conversation.  The lines at the register are almost always too long.  It can be a frustrating experience!

But, there are some things that are less expensive there than anywhere else.  Like their generic version of Aleve.  Among other things, that's what I bought at Wal-mart.  You guessed it; the checkout line was too long!  The person in front of me took forever to get her money out, and then another forever to gather her stuff and move on!  I was starting to get a little irritable.  Just a teeny bit, mind you.

Well, I finally got out of the store with my stuff, got it into the car, and went home.  I went to put away my bottle of (generic) Aleve, but decided I needed to go ahead and take one.  Can you blame me?  When I opened the bottle, I saw that someone beat me to it!  It had already been opened and the seal broken!

I was preparing myself against all kinds of arguments for why Wal-mart might be reluctant to exchange the opened bottle of pills for an unopened bottle of pills.  What if they thought I had opened it, took out several pills, and just wanted to exchange it for a full bottle, thereby getting some free pills?  I was ready for them.  What if they asked my why I didn't check the bottle before putting it in my buggy?  I was ready for that one too.  All the way back to Wal-mart, I tried to think of all the arguments I might need to employ.

I walked in, saw the greeter, and told her I needed to exchange this bottle of pills.  She gave me a sticker and told me to go to Customer Service.  I rounded the corner and noticed that there were a few people in line ahead of me, so I decided to go ahead and get a new bottle off the shelf before heading over there.  I got in line, checked my watch, and thought, "Let's just see how long THIS takes!"

The two people ahead of me in the line went through quickly.  I explained to the lady at the counter what had happened.  She smiled and said, "Somebody must have had a headache."  I laughed and said, "They must have!"  Then I told her I brought a new bottle of pills from the shelf.  She thanked me for doing that, and exchanged the bottles without a single question!

I was pleasantly surprised.  After an irritating and frustrating experience, I had a right pleasant experience!  And it only took five minutes!

When have you expected the worst to happen, but ended up having a relatively pleasant experience instead?

Be Blessed.

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