Are You Kidding Me?

Awhile ago I posted an entry about "neither a borrower nor a lender be." The event that prompted that email occurred at the beginning of November. I hosted book club at my house. We read Twilight. It was a lot of fun. One of my friends brought a new girl to the ward to our discussion. Let's call her Samantha. She seemed rather nice, and my friend spoke highly of her. After book club Samantha asked if she could borrow my copy of the next book in the series, New Moon. I was a little skeptical, but she promised to return it to me in a week. I finally relented and let her borrow it. I knew where she lived, so worse case scenario I could get it myself from her. A week went by and on Sunday she told me how much she enjoyed the book. I asked her if she remembered to bring it with her and she said she forgot. This was not a big deal, I told her to just bring it next week.

I forgot to ask her for a couple of weeks and it seemed that she did as well. So before Christmas I called her and reminded her to bring it with her to church that day. Her first comment was an apology saying that she is always good at returning people's things. At this point I'm thinking "Yeah right!" She then said that she wasn't feeling all that well and was going to stay home, but she had given it to her boyfriend to deliver to me. Knowing the nature of most boys, I knew that I was going to have to find him and ask him for it. I didn't see him until Sacrament meeting, our last meeting. I was playing the organ that day, so I asked two of my friends to catch him and get it for me. Well, it seems that they got sidetracked by several people and missed him. The next Sunday I saw him and asked if he still had my book in his car. He told me that he had given it back to Samantha. I called her over Christmas break, but just got her voice mail. I left a message, but didn't expect much.

It is now January and I have waited to see if she would show up to church and I'd ask her then. Well three weeks in to January I finally remember during evening hours (I usually remembered late at night when I was trying to fall asleep) to call her. So last night I did just that. Here is how the conversation played out:

Me: "Hello."
Samantha: "Hello."
Me: "Hi, this is Anneliese from the ward. I was wondering if you were at home right now?"
Samantha: "Actually . . . I don't live there any more."
Me: "Oh. I was just calling to see if I could come by and pick up my book."
Samantha: *Click*
Me: "Hello? . . . Hello?" I hang up the phone, "Are you kidding me?"

I don't think that I've ever been purposefully or so rudely hung up on. I am flabbergasted! I am also frustrated, irritated, and most specifically all consumingly angry!!! (My brother Ryan always says that you choose how you are going to feel. No one ever can make you feel a certain way). Well I am choosing to feel all of these emotions. It's healthy to be really, truly with your heart and soul, completely angry, right? Ok, so I wasn't overtly so, in fact if you had come upon me last night you would have thought nothing was wrong. You would have been utterly mistaken! ("Mistaken? . . . Utterly? . . ." Do you know what that's from?) Inside I was seething. I tried to read, but I couldn't get past the yelling in my head. So I just pounded away on the piano. I was a little bummed that I'd already gone to the gym. I could have pounded my frustrations out there.

Today I am much calmer. My anger has simmered. I am choosing not to let my irritation consume me any more. (That's not really going to start until I finish this post, however). I am just amazed. I don't understand how someone could be so out and out rude. There is no other name for it. As I think about it right now, all I can do is shake my head. I don't get it. It doesn't make any sense. So I now realize that I am out my $23 book because of some stupid jerk of a girl (and my own lack of judgment, but let's not dwell on that right now) stole it. Yes, at this point it is called thievery! I actually bought it full price, the hard cover book no less, at Barnes & Noble. Argh!!! I guess I will now wait until June 10th to buy me a copy of the paperback version, because I'm not paying that much again. Seriously, all I can do while I write this post is shake my head most irritatedly. Truly, I am just flabbergasted. That is the best word for it.