Monsters in Paradise

I have come to the realization that I really have been blessed to live in one of the most beautiful locations in California. Surrounded by rolling hills of oak trees, orchards of walnut, olive, pastachio, avocado, various citruses and fruits, and of course the magnificent vineyards. Close the ocean, rivers and lakes, and lovely emerald green hills in the spring which are a warm golden color in the summer. Easy weather, never too cold, never too hot. Not a whole lot of freeway traffic, or any sort of traffic. Most of us only suffer road rage when we get stuck behind some city driver going 40 mph or less on a back country road, in which case we just wish that they would move over and let us by for heaven's sake! All in all its a very easy place to live. Most are not accustomed to living in the middle of a climate rich in wildlife, foxes, coyotes, skunks, mountain lions, bobcats, bears, and yes, even badgers, which I was unaware of until earlier today. However, with all of these creatures around that can cause us harm, with rabbies, terrible smells, mauling us when we hike or mountain bike, or in the case of the coyotes, luring our beloved pets out to play and then eating them. I still find the biggest monsters that we are doomed to deal with are of our own species. They come in the form of drunken rowdy partiers who refuse to follow the rules of the wineries and drive drunk on our roads. They come in the form of irritated customers who just don't understand why they can't bring their dog into the building, forgetting that they would never try to bring their dog into most other public buildings, and they come in the form of irate guests, who have decided that they have a personal vendetta against you for some grievance they believe they have suffered from the company which may have nothing at all to do with you. Today, I was unfortunate enough to be forced to deal with one such monster. I understand human frustration, believe me, just because I live in what looks like paradise, doesn't mean I haven't worked hard to be here and to be able to stay here. I understand wanting to go on vacation and wanting every moment of your stay to be exactly the way you dreamed it would be. FORTUNATELY, however, I grew up with a mother who had a saying, "be flexible." She would expound on that once in a while, but it always boiled down to the fact that things will not always go your way, and the more you try to make them go your way, the more likely they are to be stubborn and rebelious and go exactly the other way. I think she learned this valuable lesson when she had me. haha I am forever grateful to her for passing it along though. I wish I had just learned it from hearing it, but as is my nature, of course I had to learn this one the hard way a few times before I finally got it, and I'm sure I'll probably have a few more run-ins with it since it is in our nature, especially as Americans to want what we want, when we want it. Anyways, this particular guest I was actually fortunate enough not to be face to face with. he decided to launch his personal attack on me via the phone, and then later through email. Long story short, since he had provided us with the wrong contact information to reach us, and then tried to reach us through the wrong contact information, it was all my fault. You can't please everybody, and you certainly cannot argue with idiots, or unreasonably people. You will just end up frustrated and angry if you try. So, over my years of customer service experience or what I like to refer to as adult babysitting, as it is much the same as babysitting a toddler sometimes, I have just learned to be patient, nod and smile, and eventually they will run out of words and go somewhere else to be somebody else's nightmare. Cheers to those travellers who have learned the invaluable lesson of rolling with the punches and finding a way to enjoy whatever comes at them. They will always have a good time!