When I was a kid, adults were so cool. They had responsibility, authority and knew what they were doing. They had answers and knew how to make things happen. They reeked with confidence when they made phone-calls, paid bills, filled out forms and demanded service. Or so I thought…
I am now an adult, at least on paper, but I find myself totally devoid of that wisdom and confidence, I once assumed came with adulthood. My daily reality has become a practice in humility, realizing how much I don’t know. As I daily sort through the piles of immigration forms, vendor contracts, bank statements, loan repayments, tax papers, rental listings, insurance papers and medical bills, I can’t help but feel clueless and inadequate. What is this mountain of adult-sounding terms that I am supposed to somehow be acquainted with? Where did it come from?
My mother’s advice: “It is okay to ask questions if you don’t understand.” This is very good advice, if I had a clue what sort of questions would be helpful to ask:
“Excuse me, Mr. Help-line Man, who barely speaks English. Can you please explain to me why it takes 45-70 days to change my direct debit payment to another account, but only 1 day to slap me with a late fee?”
Does it get easier, or do we just get better at faking it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment