Fight or Flee?

I have had the MOST STRESSFUL day
which evolved around a dental appointment.
"God help me I thought I was gonna die."
I'll spare you the details,
but for the record, my life flashed before my eyes.
I think my head spun just as I began to foam at the mouth.
Picture the "HULK" as he transforms from an average man
into a huge, green, angry monster.
That was me.
I could feel my blood surge as my "fight or flight" senses kicked in & I went into automatic pilot. Laid back, easy-going, Southern Belle be damned; I was livid, and I told them so.
I think "pissed off" was where I began,
and heaven only knows my MaMa would slap my jaws if she knew.
I used to "cry & run" when I found myself in such a predicament, but not any more. (perhaps it has something to do with hormones, or the lack thereof) Whatever the reason, I have found my "fight" and whether I like it or not, it seems to serve me well in an emergency.
Who knew?
And where was my emergency Valium? Not in my purse! Darn!!
Did I mention I prayed?
Yep. Went into the restroom and fell to my knees.
Sometimes we just have to "get to the other side" of a problem
the best we know how.

How about you,
when your back is to the wall
do you "fight or flee"?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * *

Mistakes.

Mistakes.
I've been thinking about just that, "mistakes".
I've come to realize that mistakes actually fall into two categories:
those I make, and those others make. I'm far more merciful about the first, and not so much about the latter.

I went to the dentist to have the Permanent Crown set on a tooth.
He did the procedure, charged me what I once paid for my first car, and told me to come back in 3 wks. At such time he would remove the Temporary Crown and put the Permanent Crown into place...Fast forward to 5 weeks later, when the Permanent Crown actually came back from the lab. . .

I returned to the dentist.
The nurse tried to remove the Temporary Crown, but it didn't budge.
The dentist entered and tried the same.
The Temporary Crown had settled well into my gum (after 5 wks) and didn't want to leave. So the dentist gave me a BIG HONKER SHOT to numb the gum. As he waited for the novacaine to do it's magic, I heard him say, "Oh Dear." He then showed me the Permanent Crown; it is of a lovely Banana Yellow hue. "The lab has sent us the wrong Crown." he said.

"Someone" had made a BIG mistake, so I left with a fat lip and no Permanent Crown.

I was so ticked!
It seems mistake after mistake after mistake has been made.
I waited 5 weeks for this Crown, after being told it would only
be 3 weeks. Then, I needlessly received a BIG needle into my oh-so-delicate-sweet-baby-pink gums. (yes, I exagerate a bit.) Then, I'm out the time for the appointment during these extremely busy days before Christmas. And who knows how long I'll wait now with the Christmas/New Year holiday upon us. ?????

Can't people just do their job and get things right?
Is everyone so poorly trained or so given to sloppy work that a person never gets what they pay for? So, I must suffer because of the mistakes of others.

Then, my mind did the virtual "V-8 slap" inside my head, and I was reminded of a day, many years ago, when a neighbor hired me to make a birthday cake for her young son, "Brian"...I worked all day on that cake to proudly present her with a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, just as she had specified. Amidst the clown & balloon that I had placed on the cake were my words, written in red butter cream frosting -

"Happy Birthday Brain"

Guess we all make mistakes.