Heard in line at coffee shop/smoothie bar behind a woman in her 40s:

Phone rings several times.  Ignores it.

Phone rings once more.  The woman sighs and reaches into her pocket.
 
"WHAT?!"

Her voice seeths with fury.

"I TOLD you that I would MEET you when I am FINISHED."

Each word is carefully enunciated,  venom spilling out of every syllable. 

"No.  No.  I am in line at the coffee shop, and I..."

"I said I'm IN LINE AT THE COFFESHOP.  And once I get my CUP of COFFEE, I will come there.  You were supposed to look around while I shopped and got my cup of coffee.  Then we were going to meet back up.  No.  NO.  Let me tell you one more time:  I am IN LINE for my CUP of COFFEE.  When I am DONE, I will MEET YOU, and then you can WAIT...ON...ME." 

It is clear the person on the other end has not responded, but she angrily snaps her phone shut and sighs loudly.  She finally has her turn at the counter, and the server asks how she is doing, and she cheerily replies, "Fine!  How about you?" and my immediate thought is, you'll speak friendly to a stranger but not to a person who knows you and probably loves you? 

From the way the woman was talking, it sounded like it might be her daughter.  I tried to place myself in her shoes, the mother of an unruly, snotty teenager.  But, I just couldn't imagine myself hanging up on someone like that, especially if I knew them!  So, I'm sorry, angry woman on the phone, but it sounds like you are very angry at something, and it probably didn't have anything to do with the person who was calling you.

7/7/2009 03:50:38 pm

I hope that's not me in 10 years. Sometimes I listen to myself crank at my little kid and hope that I can improve.

Beautiful post.

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