I Should Have Said...

I drove up to the medical supply store one hot Saturday afternoon. I was in search of a wrist brace for my mild to moderate carpal tunnel. I had called about a week earlier to ask if they carried them, and the woman on the phone said yes.

I walked into the store while sipping on my Chick-fil-A diet lemonade. The woman behind the counter (Lady #1) asked if she could help me.

"I'm looking for a wrist brace," I replied.

Lady #1 looked at me and asked with annoyance, "Do we have it?"

I was so taken aback, I didn't know what to say. Why would she ask me if they have it? How would I know, right? I mentioned that I had called earlier and the lady I spoke with had said they had it.

"Well, you didn't talk to me this morning," Lady #1 retorted. Turning to her coworker (Lady #2) she asked, "Did she talk to you?"

"She didn't talk to me this morning either," Lady #2 responded with attitude.

I couldn't beleive they were speaking like this to me, their customer. I corrected them and said that I hadn't called that day. I hadn't said that I called that morning. Honestly, I'm not sure why that mattered anyway!

Lady #1 walked around the counter and led me to a wall of products and said, "This is what we have." On the wall were various wrist splints and braces. Um, what?! Did this lady really just lead me right to the wrist braces after asking me if they had any?

Really?

I was so very confused. Was this the twilight zone? What was going on here?!

I found the braces and looked at the different sizes with Lady #1 hovering over me. Did she think I was going to steal it by putting it in my purse that was just big enough for my iPhone? I didn't know if she-who-hovered would let me try the brace on, as I wasn't sure what size to purchase. I asked her if I could open it and try it on.

"It looks like it's already open," Lady #1 snapped.

While mentally rolling my eyes, I took that to mean I could try it on. I chose the medium size, paid for it, and left. As I walked to my car, I thought of all the things I could have said...most of which I never would have said, but some of which I maybe should have said.

You see, I'm the nice girl. I'm sweet and polite. My quick sarcasm only really comes out with good friends that know me well. With strangers, my focus is on being gracious, kind, and long-suffering. I value my verbal filter. I'm thankful for who I am and don't want to change it. But dude, there are times when I wish I could think of the right thing to say to people that are so rude. I wouldn't want to respond to them with rudeness, but maybe I could show them how ridiculous they are being. However, I rarely think of the perfect thing to say until after the encounter.

What I should have said was, "Why would I know if you have wrist braces?"

Or maybe I could have shown my complete and utter confusion when Lady #1 led me to the wall of wrist sprints and braces and said, "Wait, are you telling me that you knew the whole time that you carry wrist braces? Even when you asked me if you had any? Are you kidding me?" No, I wouldn't have said that. I'm way too nice and I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. They could be having a terrible day. Of course, that doesn't mean they should treat me poorly...

What I wouldn't have said but did think was, "I'm confused. You do understand that you're the one that works here and I'm the customer, right? Just checking."

What about you? Are you like me? Do you always think of the perfect thing to say...about 5 minutes too late?