Maintenance.

No one ever, I mean EVER, has enjoyed sitting and waiting for their car to be worked on at the auto repair shop.

Every person in there today looked annoyed by something. Some were frustrated with their customer service rep. Others bothered by the amount of time it was taking. One lady worried about how much it would cost. She was also quite irritated by how cold it was in the waiting room. Oh, and to top it off,  one lady was dissatisfied by the channel that was on the tv. "How do you NOT have cable? This is ridiculous."

I didn't have to worry about these things, because my work was under warranty, but also because I was worried about my two babies. I didn't want their behavior to add to the frustration of any of these highly irritable people in the waiting room with us. (Don't get me wrong, I would have been just as irritable. Waiting rooms SUCK! I just couldn't afford to be today.)

While in there, Jack, Jocelyn and I had a decent time.

Jack worked on some homework (The contents of his backpack were completely sprawled out all over the floor by our seats). Attacked a plastic plant with his ax (There was a broken branch that stuck out, just screaming to be attacked). Sang "Old McDonald Had a Farm." (He's really into this song right now). Practiced some gymnastic moves on the very soft leather chairs. (Building up his core muscles).

Jocelyn ate her breakfast, bottle, and her toes. She pooped. She told a sweet little grandma a story for 3 minutes straight, complete with smiles, squeals, and grunts. Then pooped again (Explains the grunting). She practiced sitting up on her own. She played with her toys. She posed for pictures.

The whole time we were there I swear, every employee seemed to be watching our every move, or maybe I was just being overly concerned. But truly, they kept watching us.

Oh well. I only wanted to pull my hair out 18 times instead of 200. I'd say that was pretty good for a waiting room.

We sat there for about an hour and a half, before we left for some lunch, and because I was truly worried about all the employees staring at us.

When we returned, I was thrilled to see that our car was done. Yay! The worker informed me that our paperwork was at the cashier and that he'd be right with me.

All of a sudden, I had ALL of those same feelings the others in the waiting room had - frustrated, bothered, worried, irritated, and disappointed. Thinking to myself, "Why am I seeing a cashier when I have an extended warranty? When I made my appointment, I asked if it was covered and the worker dude said it was. So... why am I seeing a cashier?"

Then this conversation happened...

"Yes mam, that will be $135.17."

"Ummm, no. I thought this was under warranty." (Frustrated, bothered, worried, irritated, and disappointed)

"Well, no mam. This is maintenance and that's not covered by the warranty. But, I can go and talk with boss about it."

"Yes, please do so." 

I took some deep breaths, tried to NOT go nuts, and chatted with the cashier girls about my babies. They raved over how well they were behaved all morning, adorable, and sweet. I thanked them, and mentioned how today was an exceptionally rare day. Like, exceptionally rare.

Then the boss walked up, "Miss, I charged your bill to our internal department. You have no charge for today. Just so you know in the future, that type of work is considered maintenance, which has a fee, but your babies are so stinking (I think he wanted to say a certain F word, but refrained, thankfully) cute. THEY are why you are not being charged today. We'll see you guys next time. Have a great day."

I thanked him over and over. I was shocked and so thankful for his kindness. The cashier girls said, "He's NEVER done that before. I told you how ALL of us were watching your kids."

I knew I wasn't crazy, but I'm really thankful they were. I would have hated to leave that place feeling like others do most of the time - frustrated, bothered, worried, irritated, and/or disappointed.

Instead, I was thankful to them and thankful for my babies!