I do not know where to begin with this one, so the beginning will do…  I had a FAIL of epic proportions today, largely my own fault, but the world was not helping either!

So, in my desire to contribute, I joined the Publicity Committee for Nashville in Harmony, and today was the first, and most important, meeting.  So I, of course planned to attend.  I read the email that the committee leader sent and made plans to head to the meeting place, Panera Bread.  The meeting was slated to begin at 3:30 PM on today (Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010) and I left Murfreesboro at about a quarter to 3:00 to make sure I will have time to get there.  I was headed to the Panera at Cool Springs.  So, about thirty minutes later, I got to Cool Springs, and thought that I was going to be on time.  Yeah… NO!  Not at all.  Driving in Cool Springs is a bit of a DiSASTeR!!  I spent most of the time waiting at a green light because the lights are timed all wrong…  There is too much traffic and not enough time to let the streets empty sufficiently, so people run the light and get stuck in the intersection…  And if that was not bad enough, the lights are SO close together, and it appeared as though NO ONE in Franklin decided to coordinate the lights so that when one lane turns into a road, the light ½ a block down stays, or turns, green.  No…  as soon as you turn, the next street’s light turns RED, thus trapping even MORE people in the intersection.  *GOSH!*  Anywho, when I was actually moving, I could not do anything because everyone, including me at this point, is so frustrated that they are willing to speed and cut people off just to get OFF of the road.  So I fought with that, too.  So, needless-to-say, I missed the entrance to the Panera.  So I thought that I would just hit the next road, turn around and head back.  NOPE!!!  Apparently, there was a hurricane coming because there was SO much congestion on the roads, I knew that it had to be because they ordered an evacuation of the area.  There can’t possibly be THAT many people out shopping…  we are in a recession.  So I could not turn around!  At this point I am 10 minutes late.  So, I drive ALL the way around the mall to another road, get turned around, and get back to the Panera.  I walk in about 20 minutes late…  and NO ONE IS THERE!!!  I was like… “Hmm, I guess everyone else had problems, too… I will just wait a minute.”  After another 5 minutes, I think that something is wrong, and then I recall that the email said that it was the Panera “IN” in the mall.  So I get all frustrated at myself and leave the Panera to go to the mall, only to find out that there is NO Panera Bread IN Cool Springs Mall…  So now I am REALLY confused.  I go back to Panera and wait another few minutes, this time, bringing my laptop in and re-reading the email.  I grab a coffee, because I believe that if you are going to use a place’s facilities (bathroom, sink, internet, etc) you should really be a paying customer, and I sit down.  I hop onto Gmail and check the email.  At this point I am both confused and angry, because now I was thinking that they either cancelled the meeting or moved it and neglected to tell me.  I get to the email and read, intently, to see if I missed anything or read something wrong…  and…  I did…

The next words out of my mouth, loudly, in public, were “Fuck My Life!!”  People looked up, laughed, and went about their business…  See…  when I re-read the email I discovered that the Panera IS in fact IN the mall…  Yeah…  It is in GREEN HILLS MALL!!!  I am at the WRONG freaking mall!!!  At this point it is 4:00…  and I am CRAZY late.  I pack up in a jiffy, hit the car and hit the road.

I did like 100 on the way to Green Hills, and once I got to I-65, it only took 14 minutes to get to Green Hills.  I am like…  whew, I will only be an hour late.  Well, no… not at all…  I get to the Mall at Green Hills only to find out that there are literally NO parking places in the ENTIRE mall parking lot!!!  I drove for another 10 minutes before I finally said to hell with this.  I pulled up to the valet and had them park for me.  By the way, if you EVER go to Green Hills Mall, don’t try to park.  Just valet.  It’s free. 

Anywho, I get to the meeting at a little after 5:00. (1.5 hours late) Thankfully, they were all still there.  I walked in, told a brief version of my story and we shared a hearty laugh.  I was CLEARLY distraught about the entire ordeal, and I was very much ready to explode, but it got better once I realized that it was not a big deal.  We discussed stuff, they caught me up, and all was well.  As it turns out, they were all varying intervals late, too, so it was all good, but I was still very happy that it was over.

Onto the meeting:  We decided that I am doing graphics and print publications! *woot*  that is what I wanted.  I will also be writing stuff for the website and talking to the webmaster about that tomorrow.

Conclusion:

“I am going OUT… because I deserve to go out.  And I’m going to get DRUNK… because I deserve to get drunk.  And get outta my way!!”  -Bill Cosby

-=brett=-