I really didn't like her very much.
I hate to admit it, but it's true.
Ever met someone who just gets under your skin? She gets way under my skin! She pushes my buttons! As a matter of fact, I've got buttons I didn't know I had, until she came along!
Button #1 . . . . she talks incessantly . . . nervous talk . . . . Some days, she rattles on from the time I pick her up til the time I drop her off. Seriously, for all intents and purposes, the driver doesn't even have to be there.
Here's the way it works . . . she asks my opinion about something . . . then, somehow she anticipates what my answer will be . . . then, she responds to my presumed reply . . . All before a word ever comes out of your mouth. It goes on, topic after topic.
Then, we arrive at her destination, and somehow, "WE" have had a conversation?
Button #2 . . . . Then, there's that habit she has of always trying to get around me . . . Here's what I mean:
We ask all of our passengers to let us know by 3:00pm where they need to go the next day. Then our dispatcher takes all that information from all those calls and spends the late afternoon and early evening scheduling drivers and passengers for the next day.
That's not so hard, is it? Three o'clock?
What does she do? She calls at 3:15, reminds you that she knows she is calling late, but "Will you take me tomorrow, anyway?"
Oh, but it doesn't stop there . . . Which leads me to Button #3 . . . On the days that she does call on time, she will call in the early morning,
then call again in the late morning,
then call again in the early afternoon,
And again in the late afternoon,
each time with a slight amendment to the previous call, or an apology for
not remembering what she said the last time.
It goes like this "Did I say . . . . . (fill in the blanks) . . .?" Then she continues, "Well, good. I just wanted to be sure, because I don't want to cause you any extra trouble, because I know ya'll are real busy. And you got a lot to do. OK, then. I"ll be ready for you at 9:00 tomorrow. Was it 9:00 that I told you, or was that the last time? Oh well, it don't matter, just be here at 9:00 either way, and I'll be ready . . . . Unless that's too much trouble. You know, I don't want to be a bother."
Shall we go on? . . . .well, there's Button #4!
It gets pressed quite often as she continually tries to convince my drivers to take her to extra places. Never mind that I have explained (over and over) that other people need rides, too! That's why we schedule all rides ahead of time, so that we can try to meet everyone's need !!!!
YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
So, one day, I take all my bruised buttons, and I get alone with God, and I just ask Him, flat out . . . . "O.K., Lord, why should we even keep taking her to work, anyway?"
"Because, she needs to work. She needs the income."
"Yes, Lord, but . . . . "
And, by the way, I think that you should be a bit concerned about your own attitude in all this. You might want to check out 1 Corinthians 13, again!
"Yes, Lord."
"Keep setting guidelines that are workable and fair for everybody . . . And keep holding her to everyone else's limits, but don't turn away from her."
"Yes, Lord."
"I never said this would be easy."
"Yes, Sir."
So, I gulp down a large dose of 1 Corinthians 13 (to numb my buttons) and we continue on. Funny too . . . It's not long before I begin to see things about her that I had not noticed, before . . .
How she works extra shifts at the nursing home so that, this year, she can buy gifts for everybody. "Last year, I couldn't, but this year I can!"
How she is totally infatuated with her grandbaby girl, and especially excited about giving her Christmas gifts!!
How she loves the residents at the nursing home, Where she works the night shift. How she sees that many of them are lonely, and how, late at night, she goes in to talk to them!!!
How, underneath all that nervousness and tension, she's really a sweet and gentle and generous soul!
How, in the beginning, she didn't like me very much, either!
How she's been bearing with me, just like I've been bearing with her!
"Merry Christmas, dear lady. I hope that it is a good one for you."
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