Saturday, May 1, 2021

That One Time I Thought I was Wrong but it Turned Out I was Right

Once upon a time on a Tuesday, Alyssa had a track meet and Olivia had an orthodontist appointment. A’s track meet was to start at 4:30 in a town about 40 minutes from work.

O’s orthodontist appointment was scheduled for 4pm, which, on a typical day, would give her and Tom plenty of time to get to the appointment where I would meet them and take her to the appointment. Tom would take himself…somewhere else.

It works.

Except for those days when I need to be somewhere else, like at a track meet.

So the weekend before this fateful Tuesday, I asked Tom very sweetly if he’d do me a favor. I asked if he’d stay with Olivia for her orthodontist appointment while I made my way to Montpelier for the track meet.

He agreed, though a bit reluctantly. Or rather, he was reluctant until I offered to let him go to the track meet instead. Then he decided an orthodontist appointment didn’t sound so bad. I didn’t mention that he’d need to go through the KFC drive-thru after the appointment because it’s just what we do. His fear of the drive-thru is well documented and may have altered his choice of parental assignment.

Alas, as luck and mother nature would have it, we were hit with a cold front and a ton of snow (it was April 20th for those keeping track.)

The track meet was canceled so I met Tom and Olivia at the orthodontist for her appointment and sent him on his merry way.

Thank you LORD that I was able to send him on his way. If he’d gone into that office and been told what I was told, that man would have been livid.

See, we walked in and I told the receptionist that Olivia was there for her 4:00. The receptionist did her thing and said, “Um, I don’t see her on the scheduled.’

Now, anyone who knows me KNOWS I mess things up. I do. I can’t seem to help it. I mean, hello, I showed up for a party in Indianapolis a week early. A WEEK!

So I said, “But I got the email.”

The ladies at the front desk asked if I had my phone with me.

Duh. Of course I did. I pulled it out and there it was, the email reminding us of Olivia’s appointment at 4pm on…Monday, April 19.

Damn it.

They were kind enough to fit her in (thank goodness there had been a cancellation and her appointment was only 20 minutes long) and after her appointment we got KFC chicken for Lyss and Liv (and I encountered nary an issue with the drive-thru) and made our way home. I was going to get Crazy Bread from Little Caesars (it’s in the same business complex as the orthodontist) but I decided since I’d screwed up the appointment I wasn’t allowed to be rewarded with the deliciousness that is Crazy Bread. Sigh. Adulting sucks.

When we got home, I confessed my mistake to Tom only because I know that Olivia, that sweet darling little shit, is unable to keep a secret to save her life, would have told him everything the first chance she got.

He gave me a look that said something along the lines of, “You’re an idiot.”

Or, maybe he didn’t. I could very well have read that on his face when it wasn’t there at all. It happens.

But then he asked, “But how could you have done that?”

I rolled my eyes and asked him, “Have you met me?”

Then we decided to check it out because I’ve gotten less flakey in my middle-aged years than I was even a few years ago.

And look at that, there on the corkboard affixed to the basement door was the slip that orthodontist’s office had given us at her last appointment: OLIVIA ORDINARY, NEXT APPOINTMENT, TUESDAY, APRIL 20 AT 4:00PM.

OMG I’d given up the special treat that is Crazy Bread for nothing.

I’d just meekly accepted that I’d been wrong but I hadn’t been wrong! I hadn’t written the date wrong on my calendar at work. I hadn’t remembered incorrectly.

Of course, if I’d bothered to read the reminder email I could have called them to find out why they were reminding me of an appointment that was a day later according the slip THEY’D GIVEN ME! So yes, in future days, I will read the reminder emails more carefully.

But the real moral of this story is to NOT deny yourself Crazy Bread for a mistake that is probably not even your mistake. Because hello, even though I thought I was wrong…it turns out I was not wrong. Or at least I was not as wrong as I’d first thought and even if I’d been all the way wrong, that’s not really a reason to deny myself Crazy Bread.

1 comment:

Julie said...

You should never deprive yourself of Crazy Bread.