Tech support employees rub me the wrong way

I understand that some jobs, particularly ones that deal with customer service, can be demanding and difficult. I get that. But I now have a problem with tech support employees.

UGH!

I called my laptop manufacturer today in an attempt to fix my wireless internet. I was on hold for a good while, then explained my problem (which is being UNABLE to connect to the internet) to a tech support employee, who then asked for all of my information and the computer's information. I spent 30 minutes talking with this man about my problem and listening to him repeat my email address 3 times to make sure he had the correct spelling before he finally says: "Well ma'am, the warranty has run out on your computer, so if you want to receive any further assistance from us today, you will need to buy a 14 day warranty for $49.99."

Ok.
1. Don't you think he should have told me that I could not receive any help from him after he already had my warranty information after 10 minutes of talking to me?
2. I am not going to pay $49.99 for him to tell me that I possibly have one silly little setting switched off.
3. What "further assistance" is he offering? I received absolutely NO HELP from him. To offer "further assistance" implies that I had somehow been assisted already.

So in response to this I politely say: "Alright, well I think I'd rather take my computer into a repair shop near me, but thank you."

He then has the balls to say: "Alright ma'am, if you like, you can always visit our website for troubleshooting."

Is that a joke? The whole reason I'm calling is because I CANNOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET - which he is fully aware of.

"Well, I can't do that seeing as I can't connect to the internet," I say, in a suddenly less cheery and less polite tone.

"Oh, yes and I understand that ma'am. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"

"No, thank you."

Damn it, Taylor! Don't thank the man for doing absolutely nothing to help you and wasting your time!

I really have a problem being rude to others - especially people I don't know at all. Typically I think this is a good trait, because most things aren't worth getting into an argument. However, its times like these when I am frustrated and irritated that I wish I could be just a little more forceful.

Hopefully the Italians will teach me that.

Beautifully Chaotic

Patience seemed to be the theme for today.
I cannot tell you how many times I had to mentally remind myself to be patient.

"Be patient Taylor, class will be over in 30 minutes."
"This line won't move toooo slow, just be patient."
"Stop demanding so much of people and just be patient with them."
"If you keep beating yourself up over nothing and stressing out you're going to give yourself a heart attack before you turn 20. Be patient with yourself and with life."

I swear, it was like one test of patience after another today. Things that are generally free from stress became painfully tedious and irritating today.

After I identified my extreme lack of tolerance and patience (about half way through my day), I tried desperately to turn it around. I didn't have much luck getting my mind off of the things that I was having difficulty with so I decided I needed to start making some changes in my routine so that today would seem less trivial and more interesting. Here's a list of stuff I did in order to shake things up.

1. Put my iPod on shuffle and forbade myself from skipping songs I didn't want to hear.
2. Took the long route to and from class.
3. Started a conversation with a random person in a lecture class today (but this resulted in the guy giving me a creepy pick up line so I moved seats).
4. Discussed the pros and cons of being old with a 73 year old woman.
5. Skipped a class in favor of reading in the sun.
6. Switched phones with a friend a few minutes ago so that I no longer have access to my contacts (at least for this evening).

Surprisingly, #6 has been the most amusing and liberating thing I've done in a while. Its interesting to see how I operate when I don't have any way to text or call my friends.

When I go through these spurts of spontaneity, one of my best friends laughs and tells me that by mixing things up I'm making the world "beautifully chaotic". Life really is about opportunities and experiences. I try to do something (even little things) different every day and then appreciate the consequences of it.

Routine is a boring way to waste life away.