Is it OK to just want to quit? To really think about what will happen if you just crawl back in bed and pull the covers over your head? Because some days, my friends, we are all over it. Like, if one more thing in this house breaks, I may loose my mind. If I have to tell these people one more time to PUT THEIR PERSONAL BELONGINGS AWAY, yet again, it’s possible that I may not recover. If anyone living here has a commentary about what’s for dinner, it’s entirely possible that I may run away from home and never return.
Our lives our filled with SO many things. And, my frustration is that none of these things ever comes with an easy one-step solution. I could do one-step solutions—I could do those all day! I could make that list and cross those bad boys off and be good. It’s the multi-step, Pandora’s Box nonsense that really gets to me. Wake up to a leaking kitchen faucet—ok, no problem, these things happen. One step, call plumber; wonderful plumber will fix it. Nope, not today. Today, this faucet has a special ring on the inside, one that has to be special ordered from Zimbabwe and will take two weeks. In the meantime, you can pony up for a whole new faucet or live with the leaking until your super-special part arrives—nonsense. Why can’t it just be fixed? Why are there ALWAYS so many steps? Maybe you have a question, or, God help you, a discrepancy with your pediatrician’s latest bill? Get ready for at least six phone calls to five different people and to loose an hour of your life that you’ll never get back. Why? Why does everything seem to take so much longer than it should?
Uncle!
Maybe it’s me? Maybe in this instant information age, I have grown impatient. Maybe I just don’t have the stamina to sustain fourteen different steps and three forms of ID to return a pair of pants? I’m willing to take the blame. I’m owning it. Maybe I’m not cut our for the frustration of driving fifteen miles to a specialty store to pay over-inflated prices for sporting equipment to find that they only have two sizes of cleats available. Two sizes? How can you even call yourself a store if you have no items to sell? I’m so confused and annoyed and I’m over it.
The problem with me being over it is that no one is coming to help. There is no one to call in “over it” to; no one to tell that I just quit. You see, if I quit, nothing really happens. Well, that’s not true, all of the annoying things that I hate to do will just pile up and accumulate. Then, after I’ve returned from “over it” vacation, I’ll be faced with ten times the things that were there before. Because, I don’t have a back up. Even with a partner, there’s no real back-up. Your partner is usually busy doing their part of the list, and they’re probably over it too!
So, my friends, there is no solution, there’s no way out. This is adulting. And, that “adulting is hard” meme is popular for a reason! It’s not always the big stuff that gets us. Obviously, things like– job changes, moving, loss—we know those are tough, but they’re supposed to be; we’re expecting it. I submit that the little things like: trying to renew your driver’s license or locating Native American stickers (true story) or find a pair of jeans that fit—these are the ones that really put us over the edge. These are tasks that should be easy. These should be fantastic, easy wins. Things we put on that list and should be able to cross off within minutes; leaving us with an insane sense of accomplishment and pride. But, that’s not happening. This year you have to make and appointment and go to the DMV in person. Native American stickers are available, but your craft store only has one sheet, but lucky for you, the one across town has more! You’ve worn the same style and size jeans since God was a boy; you didn’t even try them on, and apparently they no longer fit!
This is why I am over it. I’m done. I’m calling it quits. I am taking this whole day to do none of these ridiculous multi-step tasks. I will refuse. I will live off the grid without a license, stickers or pants. I will take back my life!
Or…I will breathe deeply, vent to my girlfriends, the store clerk or anyone who will listen. I will try to remember that being kind while doing these things is important because the people on the receiving end of my task did nothing to deserve my frustration—they’ve probably got their own “over it” list. I will take a breath and re-group and take a license picture worthy of a magazine cover. I will acquire so many Native American stickers, I’ll have enough for when the next child has to do this project. I will go to the store and find my NEW favorite pair of jeans, because eventually pants will become paramount. I will do all of these things and I’ll be nice about it. These strange tasks are mine and mine alone. I will try to enjoy the oddity and amusement they bring to my life. But, people had better start putting away their things and keeping their culinary critiques to themselves, because, I’m OVER IT!