"The Incident"
I was driving from my house to 24Hr Fitness on McEwan Road (off Lower Boones Ferry). When you're coming from I-205 South onto I-5 North, there are two lanes. The left lane merges with the third lane (or right lane) on I-5 and the right lane turns into an exit for Tualatin (it never really makes it onto I-5). Well, here's the deal: I always forget that I need the SECOND exit off that ramp. I always think it's the first exit and that I'm in the correct lane, and I always realize AFTER I'M STUCK IN THE RIGHT LANE that I should have merged onto I-5 first, and THEN gotten over into the right lane for that second exit onto Lower Boones Ferry (although all of that is hardly the point). As soon as I realize I'm in the wrong lane, I'm looking around to see if I can merge, and of course, there are too many cars (it's 5:30 PM). So I wait for I-205 and I-5 to merge, and then I turn on my blinker so I can merge. I think I was being safe. And the thought had crossed my mind - if I can't merge, oh well, my fault, I'll have to exit and then get back onto the freeway. You know we agree on this point, that drivers, when they make a wrong turn or get into a wrong lane, cannot then hold up traffic or stop in the middle of an intersection, or somehow impede other drivers, thus making those other driver's "pay" for their own mistake. That's just my philosophy. OK, so I find a spot and I merge onto I-5. In retrospect, I actually remember that the driver in that next lane over was speeding up as soon as she saw my blinker, as if to say, "AH HA! You think you can just drive by everyone and then scoot over AFTER the merge, huh? Well, I'LL STOP YOU!" She had a personal agenda, she was out to teach me a lesson.
I get over and I'm driving and I'm noticing that she's riding my rear, and I'm trying not to look in the rearview mirror because I don't want any trouble, I just want to get to the gym. I get off on the exit, she's still behind me...following VERY close. I take a right, and then another right. She's still right on my tail. By this time Collier has called me and we're talking. I get over to go into the parking lot and I notice this person is turning into the same parking lot. I'm a little nervous, but then she drives another direction inside the lot, so I figure it was just a coincidence. I'm trying to find parking, it's a busy time, I have to drive around a bit, and then, as I turn the corner and head down another section of parking, a woman dressed in the 24Hr Fitness training uniform stands in front of my car with her arm extended, the non-verbal equivalent of, "Halt!" I thought, "I wonder if something has happened inside the club? I wonder if we can't go in?" The lady comes up to my window and I ask Collier to hold on. She then goes into a rant about how I cut her off, and with kids in the car, especially, I need to be more careful. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING WHEN I SAY THIS, THERE WAS AT LEAST TWO FEET ON EITHER END OF MY CAR WHEN I MERGED. So that's not a ton of room, but I DID NOT cut her off. And furthermore, she SPED UP AND RODE MY REAR. That's how concerned she was about the safety of my children. (I think I remember all this stuff about the driving and the merging, etc., because I've gone over and over it again and again in my mind - it's like it was in my subconscious, but it wasn't a big enough deal to actually be worried about it at the time.)
I'm completely perplexed. I'm taken aback. I can't believe she actually stopped me from driving and parking, stood in front of me, and then, while in uniform and in the parking lot of her place of employment, decides to chastize me IN FRONT OF THE KIDS about my driving habits. She says something about her husband being a cop, like she's threatening me or I'm supposed to be scared because her husband is a police officer. Like she can have him get me in trouble, or has some sort of authority THROUGH HIM. Sounds like a classic case of road rage to me, although I'm so nervous at this point, I just drive away. I have no idea what I said to her because it was a shocking situation to me. The kids were even nervous and shocked, and I think a little scared of her or what was going to happen next. Collier was UPSET. He was like, "Honey, I want her manager on the phone now. You have to do something about this. You can't let people talk to you like that or push you around like that." I told him to forget it. I said I didn't want to deal with it. He insisted. I got off the phone and took the kids inside to the childcare and I went into this class I've been wanting to attend for weeks. (It WAS a great class, actually.) When I got out, I went and sought out the manager. After de-stressing and pondering the issue, I decided I wanted an apology. I was directed to a gentleman (maybe he doesn't deserve that title) named Benji. He was directing me to an office where we could talk, and before I said anything, he said something along the lines of, "I'll let you get out whatever you need to get out, but I've already spoken with your boyfriend and my employee and I can assure you this wasn't condoned and won't happen again." That statement made me angry. It sounded like, "Yeah, little woman, I'll let you vent 'cause that's what you girl's do, but I'm not gonna do anything about your complaint 'cause I've already dealt with it." So I started to tell him about what happened and he said something like, "You'll have to forgive her. She was just acting mom-like." And I'm thinking, "THAT was mom-like?!?" But what I said was, "I AM a mom. I'm ALWAYS acting mom-like." Every single thing he said to me was dismissive, and it all culminated when I asked for an apology and he asked if an apology over the phone would do and I said I wanted an apology in person and he said, 'Well I apologize on behalf of my employee', and that wasn't at all what I was asking for and he knew it. So I said I thought the apology should come from her (Jan Johnson), and he said that he wasn't going to parade her around in front of me publicly for my pettiness or my petty reasons or something like that. I was the first to mention the word petty, but it was while I was asking for a face-to-face apology (and he had already upset me with his total lack of concern for my feelings in the situation, and his dismissive attitude), and I said something like, "...you might think it's petty..." So anyway, he said I could feel free to take it further and I stood up and said, "You know what, Benji, I think this DOES need to go further."
I called the non-emergency Tualatin police line a couple hours later. Collier thought I should file a road rage complaint. I didn't want to call because I just wanted to crawl under a rock. The initial police officer who took the call was VERY rude. I actually considered, later that maybe I got her husband. Now THAT would have been a coincidence. He was snide, as I was explaining what happened, he said, "So where, exactly, did the road rage occur???" Then he said, "If you file road rage, then she'll file road rage, too." He was just as dismissive as the manager at 24Hr. I'm so glad Collier was on the phone when this lady was ranting at me, because I gotta tell ya, if I were listening to this entire story, I'd think there was something wrong with ME. As if I take everyone personally or take offense at EVERYTHING. But this was just one jerk after another, and I couldn't believe it.
I finally had a police officer call me back and he was very, very polite and he said I really would have had to call when the incident occured and that I should just deal with 24Hr Fitness at this point. Not very helpful, but very courteous. The first in a stream of bad customer service.
And while this last guy was nice, I felt like total crap. I felt "less than". I felt like I had been crapped on. (I can't believe I'm talking - or writing - this way!) I felt like NO ONE was my advocate for fairness or justice.
So I called 24Hr's corporate office the next morning and I spoke with a woman by the name of Sharon. I related most of the above story and she said she'd send this message to the District Fitness manager (I should have gotten his name). She said they all carry Blackberry's, and that they are asked to respond within 48 hours, but she also asked me to be understanding considering it was a holiday weekend and mentioned that I may not receive a call back until Tuesday.
So now I'm waiting.
I get over and I'm driving and I'm noticing that she's riding my rear, and I'm trying not to look in the rearview mirror because I don't want any trouble, I just want to get to the gym. I get off on the exit, she's still behind me...following VERY close. I take a right, and then another right. She's still right on my tail. By this time Collier has called me and we're talking. I get over to go into the parking lot and I notice this person is turning into the same parking lot. I'm a little nervous, but then she drives another direction inside the lot, so I figure it was just a coincidence. I'm trying to find parking, it's a busy time, I have to drive around a bit, and then, as I turn the corner and head down another section of parking, a woman dressed in the 24Hr Fitness training uniform stands in front of my car with her arm extended, the non-verbal equivalent of, "Halt!" I thought, "I wonder if something has happened inside the club? I wonder if we can't go in?" The lady comes up to my window and I ask Collier to hold on. She then goes into a rant about how I cut her off, and with kids in the car, especially, I need to be more careful. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING WHEN I SAY THIS, THERE WAS AT LEAST TWO FEET ON EITHER END OF MY CAR WHEN I MERGED. So that's not a ton of room, but I DID NOT cut her off. And furthermore, she SPED UP AND RODE MY REAR. That's how concerned she was about the safety of my children. (I think I remember all this stuff about the driving and the merging, etc., because I've gone over and over it again and again in my mind - it's like it was in my subconscious, but it wasn't a big enough deal to actually be worried about it at the time.)
I'm completely perplexed. I'm taken aback. I can't believe she actually stopped me from driving and parking, stood in front of me, and then, while in uniform and in the parking lot of her place of employment, decides to chastize me IN FRONT OF THE KIDS about my driving habits. She says something about her husband being a cop, like she's threatening me or I'm supposed to be scared because her husband is a police officer. Like she can have him get me in trouble, or has some sort of authority THROUGH HIM. Sounds like a classic case of road rage to me, although I'm so nervous at this point, I just drive away. I have no idea what I said to her because it was a shocking situation to me. The kids were even nervous and shocked, and I think a little scared of her or what was going to happen next. Collier was UPSET. He was like, "Honey, I want her manager on the phone now. You have to do something about this. You can't let people talk to you like that or push you around like that." I told him to forget it. I said I didn't want to deal with it. He insisted. I got off the phone and took the kids inside to the childcare and I went into this class I've been wanting to attend for weeks. (It WAS a great class, actually.) When I got out, I went and sought out the manager. After de-stressing and pondering the issue, I decided I wanted an apology. I was directed to a gentleman (maybe he doesn't deserve that title) named Benji. He was directing me to an office where we could talk, and before I said anything, he said something along the lines of, "I'll let you get out whatever you need to get out, but I've already spoken with your boyfriend and my employee and I can assure you this wasn't condoned and won't happen again." That statement made me angry. It sounded like, "Yeah, little woman, I'll let you vent 'cause that's what you girl's do, but I'm not gonna do anything about your complaint 'cause I've already dealt with it." So I started to tell him about what happened and he said something like, "You'll have to forgive her. She was just acting mom-like." And I'm thinking, "THAT was mom-like?!?" But what I said was, "I AM a mom. I'm ALWAYS acting mom-like." Every single thing he said to me was dismissive, and it all culminated when I asked for an apology and he asked if an apology over the phone would do and I said I wanted an apology in person and he said, 'Well I apologize on behalf of my employee', and that wasn't at all what I was asking for and he knew it. So I said I thought the apology should come from her (Jan Johnson), and he said that he wasn't going to parade her around in front of me publicly for my pettiness or my petty reasons or something like that. I was the first to mention the word petty, but it was while I was asking for a face-to-face apology (and he had already upset me with his total lack of concern for my feelings in the situation, and his dismissive attitude), and I said something like, "...you might think it's petty..." So anyway, he said I could feel free to take it further and I stood up and said, "You know what, Benji, I think this DOES need to go further."
I called the non-emergency Tualatin police line a couple hours later. Collier thought I should file a road rage complaint. I didn't want to call because I just wanted to crawl under a rock. The initial police officer who took the call was VERY rude. I actually considered, later that maybe I got her husband. Now THAT would have been a coincidence. He was snide, as I was explaining what happened, he said, "So where, exactly, did the road rage occur???" Then he said, "If you file road rage, then she'll file road rage, too." He was just as dismissive as the manager at 24Hr. I'm so glad Collier was on the phone when this lady was ranting at me, because I gotta tell ya, if I were listening to this entire story, I'd think there was something wrong with ME. As if I take everyone personally or take offense at EVERYTHING. But this was just one jerk after another, and I couldn't believe it.
I finally had a police officer call me back and he was very, very polite and he said I really would have had to call when the incident occured and that I should just deal with 24Hr Fitness at this point. Not very helpful, but very courteous. The first in a stream of bad customer service.
And while this last guy was nice, I felt like total crap. I felt "less than". I felt like I had been crapped on. (I can't believe I'm talking - or writing - this way!) I felt like NO ONE was my advocate for fairness or justice.
So I called 24Hr's corporate office the next morning and I spoke with a woman by the name of Sharon. I related most of the above story and she said she'd send this message to the District Fitness manager (I should have gotten his name). She said they all carry Blackberry's, and that they are asked to respond within 48 hours, but she also asked me to be understanding considering it was a holiday weekend and mentioned that I may not receive a call back until Tuesday.
So now I'm waiting.
posted by Heather at 3:53 PM
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