Sit at the end of the row, repeat
Sunday February 19th 2012, 11:42 pm
Filed under: Amaryllis

A few months ago, someone recommended a mail-order nursery to me. They were selling jumbo amaryllis bulbs? Those are hard to come by, and they grow and bloom forever in my experience–cool!

I have no idea if it was a one-person, one-family, or one-big-corporation business. But it is safe to say we were not a good fit.

I just wanted them to send me what we’d paid for.  Whether it was intentional or not, they did a bait-and-switch repeatedly. I got smaller bulbs of the wrong variety, and on the second try smaller again but also with root damage and a highly-infectious red virus that a reputable dealer would never knowingly sell.  My emails kept being answered by the same person, who was  supposedly helpful (but that promised third shipment never happened) and finally shrill.

They brought it to an end Thursday on terms I feel quite favorable to them.

It is safe to say I was annoyed.

I walked into church today, saw the fresh flowers, and suddenly caught myself in a flash of feeling peeved all over again. Oh come ON, Alison–let it go.

Our friend Jim, a gifted artist who has toured worldwide, started playing that beautiful pipe organ.

A prayer was offered.

And I found myself sitting at last in that woman’s chair, whoever she was, in front of her computer, trying perhaps to get those people in shipping with marginal reading or attention skills to fill a simple order the way it came in.

Or who knows what the deal was. But I knew this: she was a child of God. I will never know her–but He does, and that should be enough for me. And as He forgave me, how could I hold anything against her, or whoever there…? I found myself saying an inner prayer for them all.

Eh. I got some amaryllis bulbs. They’ll bloom.  And that is enough.

But just to help me hold onto that thought, I’ll be at church next week too.


6 Comments so far
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Bless you, Alison. I hope just sharing your continued frustration frees you from it.

Comment by Channon 02.20.12 @ 7:37 am

Aren’t you good? Sometimes we just have to ‘bless and release’ as my friend Channon is always telling me. g

Comment by gMarie 02.20.12 @ 10:12 am

I have a more difficult time letting go occasionally, but I tell myself that I’m not accomplishing anything by being angry.

Comment by Don Meyer 02.20.12 @ 11:00 am

Thanks for the reminder. Wasn’t it Ann Landers who said something about continuing to be angry and rehashing it all was like letting someone live rent-free in your head? I still need to practice that letting go part.

Comment by DebbieR 02.20.12 @ 1:42 pm

Thanks for your understanding of those of us who sit in front of a computer asking other people to fill orders properly. With all the good will in the world, there’s only so much that can be done.

Comment by RobinM 02.20.12 @ 4:07 pm

Your last line had me laughing!

Comment by Kristine 02.22.12 @ 6:44 am



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