Have you ever lost your temper to the point that you start to doubt your own sanity. It is a seriously disturbing and frightening sensation. I hate loosing control and making a spectacle of myself in public. This is why I never get drunk in public. The idea of not remembering what I have done or said frightened me from drinking excessively as a student and thus saved me from alcoholism.

Last Saturday I woke up with a little bit of excitement because I had booked a movie that I have been wanting to see for a long time. I missed it when it was showing in the local cinemas because I never had time to go and see it or when I did go my family would want to see something else. I had read the book when it came out and had enjoyed it enormously. I was eager to see how the director had interpreted the book on screen. I went to several DVD hire stores and they were either waiting for it to be delivered or it had been booked out. So imagine my excitement when I saw it at Val’s video store in Klipfontein road. I had gone to the new woollies on Klipfontein road (opposite Red Cross) and had decided to browse around the few shops. This was on Wednesday last week. So when I saw the movie I booked it immediately and I also booked my son a play station2 game he had been wanting for along time.
So on Saturday, I was excited about finally seeing this movie, lifeless being that I am. After the normal Saturday morning activity, which included a visit to the Fruit and Veg place in Access Park which is always a source of aggression due to the number of people that shop there, hubby and I drove to the video store to fetch the DVD’s. The time was 2 oclock in the afternoon.
When we got there, there was one person helping behind the counter and a few people already in the queue. He was a very tiny, 12 year old school boyish looking, indian/ colourdish type person and he seemed nice and pleasant as he was greeting and chatting warmly to all the people there. My turn came. He went to look for the dvds and brought the video game and another copy of “in her shoes” the dvd I had been waiting for. He then said, after looking at the pc for a while “oh oh”, always not a reassuring sound, “ I cant give you this dvd cause the copy is booked to someone else”.
Me: Come again?
Him : You cant get the dvd because its booked
Me: How many copies do you have in the store?
Him: two
Me : then give me the other one as I have booked the movie too , well in advance I if I may say so.
Him: Well , the system shows the other movie as in but I cant find in the store so I cant give it to you
I was a bit stunned as I tried to work out this piece of information. I then said, but I did not book a specific copy I only booked a movie title, the store chose to put in a code for me which happens to be the missing code. So why not give me this copy whilst you look for the other one and give that to the other guy. After all the system is first come first serve isn’t it?

I mean how reasonable is that suggestion? Voices were not raised at this stage but there was tension mounting. He then said in a slightly raised screamish voice: You want me to give you somebody’s copy I can’t do that that is unethical. I have to admit this is when I started to see red a little. This was such an unfair twist to my reasonable argument.

I explained that all I am asking is for him to adhere to the terms of the contract. I came there well in advance to book the copy, I was promised one, I came in quite early to fetch it, There is one copy available , so why is it my problem that they bungled up the process?

He then said I was being rude and that I should just go back home and he will phone me to come fetch the copy. By now he was talking to me via eye contact with the other people in the store, in a look- how- unreasonable- this- person- is-waisting- your- time and- mine- like- this- type- of -mode. I told him that it was my petrol I had to use to come back to the store and it was unfair. I was now feeling humiliated and disrespected. I felt that it seemed like I was this large African woman bullying a tiny boyish person. I started to think that if it was me walking in at the store at that moment and heard the comments and witnessed the scene I would hate me. But the real me felt that this was so unfair.

Things had completely detoriated at this point. I asked for the store owner’s number. He gave it to me I tried to call but I never got through because it was a false number. I asked for the cell phone number same thing happened. By now I was completely incensed and I was close to violence.

Finally a woman in the queue intervened and asked him to call the manager himself and lo and behold the phone rang. I explained my situation and the woman on the phone tried to understand and asked me to give the phone back to the guy. They spoke in Afrikaans and he handed the phone back to me. The long and short of it is that they were sorry and could I go back home and they would phone me when the copy was available. I felt completely misunderstood as I could sense that this woman just saw me as a trouble maker.
By now the dvd was no longer important. I was angrier at the attitude of both the store clerk and the manager. I could not close my contract and walk away as my son really wanted that PS2 game. So I took the game and drove back home.

My poor hubby was past the point of embarrassment at this point, he himself was angry on my behalf. He did say quietly” you know sweety, when you fight with a fool you also come across as an idiot” Which was a valid point albeit badly mistimed, will the man ever learn?? If a bull is breathing fire, DO NOT STEP UP IN FRONT OF IT WAIVING A RED FLAG. You will get mangled like mash. Its pure self preservation instinct. Every woman is born with one.

I became seriously incensed again. When we got home I realised that I had not gotten rid of my anger. I was snapping at everybody. So I took my car and went back to the store.

When I got there the clerk was alone. I saw the brief moment of fear in his eyes. I just asked him, in a very calm and controlled voice to call the store owner again. She, when she realised that it was me on the phone, passed the phone to her husband. Which annoyed me greatly as well. I was now a situation to be handled. Which of course I was, from their point of view.

I told him that I was feeling humiliated and completely disrespected by his store clerk. Whilst I know that my patronage was not going to break their bank I had no option but to cancel my contract. He was more understanding than his wife and apologised profusely. He said I could take out the dvd for free and he was really sorry for the incident. I felt slightly better. I did not cancel my contract although I was tempted to.

When I tried to work out why I got so angry. I realised that it was because I was misunderstood so badly. The incident brought back to memory an incident that happened in primary, where one girl told a lie about me and I couldn’t prove her wrong. I felt so misunderstood .

The store clerk could have been bullied a lot in his short life, as well. A man with his physique is a target for that sort of thing. Thus he may have felt compelled not to back down. As a result a stalemate occurred.