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I admit it: I like Egg McMuffins. Whenever my wife and I have to leave early for her oncology appointment, I always build-in time to stop at McDonald’s for breakfast on the way.
Normally we stop at a McDonald’s that is 30 minutes from home, and since they stop serving breakfast at 10:30, we have to leave by 10:00. There is another McDonald’s that’s only 15 minutes from home, but it’s out of the way and adds another 15 minutes to our trip. Last week we were running late (as opposed to other times when we are merely running late) and we left at 10:20. Oops… too late to go to either place for breakfast.
Or was it?
We had to eat something, and neither of us wanted a hamburger at that hour so I decided to go for it anyway and we headed for the closest McDonald’s. We got there 5 minutes late, and when I drove up to place my order I asked if they had two Egg McMuffins left. She said they were only serving lunch. So I asked again, “Don’t you have just 2 Egg McMuffins left?” (Ok, maybe I “pleaded” instead of “asked.”)
She said, “Just a minute” and we waited breathlessly.
“Ok,” she said. “We have two left. Would you like anything else?” Hallelujah!
Perhaps our breakfast experience wasn’t the most critical or dire of situations, but I think there is a lesson here, and the lesson is this: sometimes you just have to go for it! (Some of you may just call it “positive thinking,” and that would be okay too.)
Would we have lived had we been unable to get the breakfast we wanted? Of course. Would it have caused us some stress? A little. But the fact that we tried afforded us a couple of things. First, our routine suddenly became an adventure. Would we get there in time? If we didn’t would they still be willing to serve us what we wanted?
Second, there was immense satisfaction in succeeding.
People bend rules all of the time. If you don’t try and you don’t ask, you’ll never know what might have been. It could be something as simple as my breakfast story, or it might be something life-changing such as making an offer on a home or getting a surgery scheduled when you think they are booked.
My wife had a surgery scheduled for 2:00pm and was told not to eat anything after midnight. Yikes! That’s 14 hours without food, which would cause her some serious problems. I mentioned that if the surgery was scheduled for 8:00am they would still say the same thing: no food after midnight. That told me that the real rule was “no food for 8 hours,” which meant that she could really eat until 6:00am for her 2:00pm surgery. They agreed, and that saved my wife a lot of misery.
How can you apply this idea?
This article is one in a series on coping strategies for patients and caregivers alike. For more thoughts on caregiving, coping strategies, reducing stress, and just plain fun subscribe to my free monthly newsletter at http://www.CaringAndCoping.com Need a speaker for an upcoming event? I have a program that will knock your socks off! Watch video clips at http://www.ThePPP.org/speaking/#handle
Add a Comment3 Comments
Oh absolutely!
January 28, 2010 - 1:07pmThis Comment
Hi Rosa
I would like to add that even though each store has its own "rules," there is nothing to say that a given store won't break a given rule under certain circumstances. ASK, ASK, ASK!
January 28, 2010 - 12:47pmThis Comment
I completely agree with you. There have been more than a few instances where I have asked for things at stores, only to my pleasant surprise.
The thing to remember is that all stores have their own policies-- just because one store or restaurant has certain "rules" doesn't mean all of them are the same. For example, there are more people than I thought who had no idea that Bed, Bath, and Beyond took expired coupons and that they don't have a 30 day return policy.
I have learned that if you never ask, you'll never know.
January 28, 2010 - 12:34pmThis Comment