Wine
A very good evening, beloved believers! I was feeling quite cheerful today, having spotted a little daffodil poking its head up through the soil at the back of the house (I hesitate to use the word ‘garden’), and then it all went downhill just before I set off for my Italian evening class. ‘Ha!’ I hear you cry. ‘You hadn’t done your homework!’ Nothing so mundane, I’m afraid. No, the lesson to be learned today is COPING WITH REJECTION.
‘But surely no one would reject the Lifestyle Support Guru,’ I hear you say in disbelief. (It is surprising how often I hear your voices in my head, faithful followers.) Let me set the scene and explain:
Just finishing drying my hair before setting off for my Italian class and the phone rings:
LSG: Hello?
Unknown voice: Hello, Mr Owen?
LSG: Miss Owen. Mr Owen is away.
UV: Ah, good evening, Mrs Owen. I am calling from Italy..
I should explain that the caller is from a wine company (but I’d better not mention the name) and occasionally they call me (or, rather, they call DOT – Dai of Tanzania) with some special deals.
LSG: Ah, buona sera! (You can tell I’ve made real progress in Italian.)
UV: Buona sera. I have a very special offer for you today.
She explains what the deal is – and it is very good.
UV: Do you prefer white or red or a mixture?
LSG: A mixture.
UV: Ah, I will have to speak to my supervisor.
Now, this puzzles me because I have ordered mixed cases in the past (only once or twice, you understand – the LSG doesn’t like to go over her 14 units a day; oops, sorry, a week) and it’s never had to be cleared with a supervisor before.
In the background I can hear a conversation in Italian, but we haven’t yet reached the chapter on ‘listening in to conversations over the telephone about some woman ordering a mixed case of wine’; then she comes back to me:
UV: I’m very sorry, but I am unable to let you have this offer this month.
LSG: Why?
UV: Because we made you this offer last month and this is for new customers.
old woman
LSG: Yes, but I couldn’t afford it last month. (I didn’t explain that I wasn’t a ‘proper’ OAP last month but I am now and, consequently, have oodles of money to spend on wine.) And, anyway, if this is for new customers, why are you ringing an ‘old’ customer?
UV: I am sorry, but one of my assistants has made a mistake (passing the buck), but I will ring you next month with the same offer.
LSG: WHAT? You can’t make me the offer this month but you can next month?
UV: Yes, that is right. I am very sorry.
LSG: Yes, so am I.
UV: Have a good evening. (Now, that is what I call rubbing salt in the wound.)
So, dear devotees, what have I learned with regard to COPING WITH REJECTION? I have learned that I shall be making a visit to Majestic Wine Warehouse this weekend and NOT waiting in for next month’s phone call from the Italian Job!
Ciao!