to the woman who backed out

(I'm a little steamed about something that happened yesterday. So I'm using this blog as a way to vent. Enjoy. - MamaTea)

Dear Woman Who Backed Out,-

Yesterday I had a fundraiser garage sale for a parenting get together type group I am in charge of. We sell everything for a quarter and have a good time watching people walk away with awesome deals. There's nothing like seeing people with several bags full of treasures and paying less for the whole lot than one outfit off the clearance rack at Target. (Or so I hear.)

But you, Woman Who Backed Out, knew that. Because you had committed to picking up all the leftovers. You said you would be there at 2:15. With two trucks and a trailer. With people to help load. This was confirmed more than once. And at 2:15, you weren't there. At 2:30 we called your cell phone (the number you asked us to call) and you didn't answer, so a reminder message was left. This is Me from the garage sale. We have everything all boxed up and are ready to help you load it up... At 2:45, we still hadn't heard so we called your cell phone again.

You answered.
Hi, this is Me. From the garage sale. Are you still planning...
You hung up.
Seriously?

I still wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. Because that's the kind of person I am. Maybe you didn't hang up. Maybe we got disconnected. Maybe you're en route and just running behind. We called and left another message. You didn't answer. You didn't return our call. You never returned our call. You never showed up.

I suppose you and a lot of the world would think so what. But what you (and other people like yourself) fail to understand is the problems that you make for other people. You never look past yourself to see how your actions (or lack thereof) affect everyone else. For now I have a pile of leftovers sitting in the middle of a church (where we held the sale) and its 3:15 on a Saturday. And in order for me to fulfill my responsibilities in cleaning up the church so the congregation can have service there in 16 hours (which I said I would do, and intend to do because I am responsible) I have to rearrange my day and enlist the help of other people. People who might have had things to do after the garage sale, like relieve the babysitters who were with their kids. Or maybe simply wanted to get home at a decent hour to spend time with their families before bedtime.

You'll be glad to know, Woman Who Backed Out, that we got it taken care of. We always do. The moms who were working the sale all stayed late, cleaned out their vehicles (three minivans and an Expedition) and somehow we got everything loaded up. Actually, we stuffed the vehicles so full of garage sale leftovers, it looked like they might pop, but whatever. You weren't there to see it. We then drove the leftovers to the parked semi where all my household goodies/furniture from my Old house are stored and waiting for a New House. We then unloaded the four vehicles. It was hot. We were tired. It wasn't exactly what we had planned to spend the afternoon doing, but we did it. Unlike you, who planned to do something and then didn't do it.

I'm tired of dealing with people like you, Woman Who Backed Out. Would it have been so hard for you to say sorry I changed my mind? Or sorry, its not going to work? We did what we could do on our end of things. You messed up your end of the deal. We had to fix it.

People who mess with me in ways like this really irk me. But what bugs me more than that is all the other people you let down. See when we started looking for people who would take our leftovers, like we do every year, we always get lots of people who want them. People who want the stuff for their own benefit garage sales. Or simply because they're in a situation where they need it. For whatever reason. But we chose you because you were absolutely sure you could commit to being there. So we had to tell everyone else no. That's the real bummer. There tons of other people who could have used it.

And so, now it sits in my semi. I could track down those other people who originally emailed and offered to take it. I could then drive back up to where my semi is parked and let them have all the stuff. But once again, that will be taking time from My Life. But I will do it, because that's who I am.

I've learned something from this experience, Woman Who Backed Out, although they are things I don't really care to be re-taught. You know, those things like no matter what some people say, some people can't be trusted. And you'll forever and always be taking care of the messes they leave behind.

Sincerely,
A chick who just tries to help people out and gets kinda pissy when she gets burned