Phone call

I don't get snippy just because mom calls me with a customer service issue. Or because she wants to recruit me into a completely unnecessary, disproportionate response to the customer service issue--one more concerned with making a statement than resolving the issue at hand. Or because she tends to have these issues when I'm especially tired and busy.

It's when she gets in the way of resolving the issue that I lose it.

I hate to be a guy in this way--I'm really good at listening to my friends just to listen, without offering potential solutions--but mom is after solutions. She's not just calling me to kvetch; she wants me to get her out of whatever issue (or in this case, non-issue) she's gotten herself into.

Mom called over the weekend to tell me that Better Homes and Gardens has once again sent her a bill. She called again tonight to say they've sent her an issue. I've continued to reiterate that they can't really do that and that she doesn't have to pay them, and she's making an issue out of something that could be resolved with a phone call.

Mom: But there's no phone number!
A.: Of course there is. But it's fine--send me your information (subscriber number, etc.) and I'll take care of it.
Mom: And they raised the price, too!
A.: THAT DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE PAYING THEM.

So my outburst might be better suited to small caps than all caps--it wasn't very angry. It was more like, 'stop providing irrelevant information and give me what I need to cancel your subscription.'