Serious reconsideration here.

I really gave up today. After the worst was through that is. The day started with some plans already going haywire. But finished a final round of checking up each packet. That final round kept happening the rest of the day, at recurring intervals. No point listing out all the things that went wrong. But the day ended with me and my brother wanting to strangle the DHL fellow.

Honest, the man needs to be shaken by the shoulders before he drives someone else insane. Lucky we had each other for comfort. We'd taken 3.5k with us, after having confirmed rates on the phone. 2.5k would be more than enough, if I had to take Mr. Dumb Representative's word for it. But being ultra cautious ( I shud have more faith in my bad luck than my good luck, going by recent trends) ,we dropped in to my dad's office to pick up the extra 1k. Just in case. We reach the place after wading through hellish traffic ( ok.. biking through.... you can wade through faster..) and Mr. Don't Know My Job says " this would cost you 4954 ". Before our jaws dropped , we managed to ask him whether he was the one who'd told us abt the Rs. 2500 bit on the phone. He affirmed with a smile, and said that was for 500g, this weighs 2kg. He was actually giving us a discount on it. Sweet, huh? I wanted to ask him if he hadn't heard me mention 2kg on the phone earlier.. but I didnt want to pick a fight with someone who didnt even have the grace to feel apologetic, let alone express it. We told him we'd got only 3600 with us. And that we'd have to come back tomorrow. This at 5:45 in the evening, and DHL closes by 6:30. We couldnt imagine coming through that traffic again..but my eyes lit up when I remembered that my aunt works around there. Made a few phone calls, got her number, called her up, she said her bank's ATM is closeby and that she'll keep the money ready. DHL is 2 Mins by bike to her place. It took us 10 mins to reach her office, after crossing 4 signals, at about as much breakneck speed as Dharam Singh can possibly sprint at. Aunt's account doesn't have balance, she recently drew most of the money. She gets a card from her colleague and we go half jogging to the ATM, draw money, bid goodbyes and thank you's and it's already 6:15. We rush to DHL at BREAKNECK speed ( we touched 30kmph ok? At peak traffic hours. on MG Road. Lets see Narain Karthikeyan do that) . And reached the place just when they were about to turn off the comp for the day. We ask him the total amount, the man says, 2954. I almost pinched myself. I look at my brother and he was as much in disbelief as I was. We made the DHL guy repeat the rate some 5 times, till the manager asked us what the problem is. The manager was as thick as a brick ( Yea.. Tull..) and needed to get a life too. We figured it was best to pay and come out while we're still young. But the dumb assistant, the root of all this anguish, NEVER accepted his part at all. I had to pull my brother away from there, after he asked the same question for the 4th time patiently. And got the same dumb reply. " I told you, you only misunderstood sir..".
Brother : " Didn't we tell you we had only 3600 with us? Why did you still say 5000 then?"
The birdbrain: " I thought you had only 1600 sir"
Brother: From where did the 5000 come in at all?
The .... Nevermind.. : Sir I told you, I thought you have 1600".
Didn't he see me gesture "3" with my hand??? Damn right he did. His nose was 10 inches away from my hand. Does he think we can't lip-read between 4 and 2 when he tells us the amount???? "four" thousand 9 hundred odd the first time and "two" thousand 9 hundred something after we get the money? And forget the first amount on the phone.

We paid him, didn't even raise our voice, or even speak strongly in those last 10 minutes. And took home all the extra money we'd gathered. Was it me? Or has anyone else in contact with that guy felt like they were speaking to a bean bag? At least a bean bag does't give out random numbers and make you run around trying to get that much money after you take its word for it. Or is the man new at the job and hence no one's complained about him yet? Why do we come back with a heavy heart despite having done our best at any minute? I donno if I care about him or his kinds. I can't find a reason for him to be so foolish, or so incompetent about the price list. Or so unapologetic. Or so unconvicing. But I care about all the gloom that the end of such a day brings with it. I care about the fact that putting in all my efforts is just a small thing. It doesn't always balance the equation. But not doing that would certainly cause imbalance. Just don't count on it at all. Do my bit and leave the rest of the transaction to work out on its own. And to let the transaction bring with it whatever it is meant to. I care for the fact that the more I think of how such impossible situations happen to me, the more it seems evident that we're all being acted upon. ( this includes the DHL guy) .And If I choose to brood over the irritation, then I'll have to live by that choice. I've got better choices than that, but those nicer attitudes come as an afterthought. AFTER the initial heavy-heartedness has subsided. Why do some encounters bring out so much mental fatigue? I really gave up today.

Like they say, Night is the blotting paper of many sorrows. Gnight.