The exception to the rule...

I pride myself on rarely putting my foot in my mouth. Unless I know someone and feel comfortable, I am pretty quiet. I have found that this has served me well over the years...it has caused me to be seen as one of those "When she says something, it is meaningful" people. I like that. The following story is true. It transpired roughly four hours ago, and it illustrates exactly why I agree with Abraham Lincoln when he wrote, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

I needed to exhange an item today at a certain store that shall remain nameless. It was a spur of the moment decision to go out there before work, but I had the time. It should be stated that I hate said store, and tend to avoid it unless I know it has what I need. I digress...

I wasn't overly concerned about not having the receipt because I didn't need a refund, I merely needed to exchange the item for the same thing in a different color. No big deal, right?

After waiting in a long line at customer service, I was asked to pick out the item I needed. I did so and quickly returned to the register. A rather grumpy lady was in front of me, disgusted that the store would not refund her for an MP3 player she had gotten as a gift in July. Feeling awkward about the conflict in front of me, I quickly found something else to focus on -- the rather large sign behind the counter that gave a very detailed timeline of acceptable return times for electronics. Loving irony as I do, I smirked and stepped up as MP3 lady growled and stomped off.

That could have been enough. I could have left it at that and savored my little afternoon irony. I could have, but I just HAD to open my mouth. "You know, if that large sign over your head weren't there, she wouldn't have asked for you to bend the rules," I said to the representative as she beckoned me to the counter. She looked over her shoulder and laughed...and promptly asked for my license, which was in my school bag in the car. Who needs a license when returning an item for the SAME THING?? Hurriedly (I did have to get to work), I thought of my one out: "Um, I don't know if this helps, but my brother-in-law is your boss." Yeah, I played that card. She was cool about it, but the other representative (and why was she listening anyway?) is probably still glaring at me.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." (Sigh) I am so ashamed.