I Was Wrong!

Today I acted with anger and frustration toward someone who was just doing their job and had very little control over the situation.   It was wrong, petty and immature.  I'm a better person than how I behaved today.  No, I didn't cuss, but I was too strong and impatient with a service writer over a simple car repair.  The picture is a self-portrait of how I must have looked today!

My wife picked up a piece of steel in her rear tire during lunch.  Since she has limited time for lunch she took it to the major retailer where we bought the tires and asked for it to be repaired. I was in a study/writing mode when she called and nowhere near the retailer.   I drove across town (about 30 minutes) to give her my car so she could return to work and I would wait on her car.  Before leaving with my car at 1pm she said they told her the repair would be done by 2 o'clock and 2:30 pm at the latest.

I waited and waited and waited. Other customers waited and waited and waited.  I even heard one of the tech's tell a customer who was upset over his wait time that they were down to one guy to do all "these cars".  I reasoned to myself:  This is not a customer problem,  we should've been told this when we checked our cars in for service so we could make other arrangements, leave and return later, or be prepared for a longer wait.

By 2:55 p.m., our car was not finished.  It was already a half hour beyond the time they promised it and no one had even started the work!  Now keep in mind that Sunday's worship was on the spiritual fruit of "gentleness".  Paul's words in Philippians 4, "let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is at hand," was part of the main focal texts for the teaching message.  I totally blew the application of this passage.  I was very frustrated and in my self-importance raised my voice (without yelling) but with the kind of tone and inflection you know will get someone's attention, but stop just short of getting you arrested.  They called the manager and I expressed my concern to him a simple tire patch would take over two hours.  Voila, the car was done by 3:25 p.m., almost 1 1/2 hours beyond the promised time of completion.

I met the service writer in the parking lot as he drove the car from the garage.  "Let your gentleness be evident to all," kept running through my mind.  Surely that doesn't apply to circumstances like this? I reasoned.  BUSTED!  Within seconds the same Spirit that imparted the gift of gentleness to me and every Christ follower convicted me of my attitude and behavior.  Mind you, I was mild compared to some folks I've seen, but I am not responsible for them, only me.  I thought to myself.  Was I gentle?  Nope!  Was it evident?  Nope!

As he climbed out of my car, I extended my hand to his.  As we shook hands, I said, "I apologize for my behavior today and my words.  You have a tough job, you don't do the actual repairs and I am a better person than how I behaved.  I am sorry."  He was shocked and quickly said, "No sir.  You were frustrated and it was a frustrating situation.  You waited a long time, but thank you."  Then we wished each other a good evening.

I'm not proud of my behavior, but self-awareness is an important step to correcting wrongs.  Okay, so I blew Sunday's lesson, but maybe not.  My self-awareness occurred before I left the premises and that is a start.  The next time I will remember and hopefully catch myself before I open my mouth.

We wrap up this Sunday with the spiritual fruit of self-control.  Oh man am I ever glad this didn't happen next week!  Be patient with me Lord, this fellow struggler is still a work in progress!