Okay, in some ways, the government might be terrible.
Washington DC, state capitals, and every city and town with a local government is filled with humans who make decisions. Some decisions are selfish, some are selfless, some are misguided, some are just plain stupid. It happens. Not everyone will be happy all the time. And that's how life goes.
Calm down about it. Just chill, okay? If you have a problem, find a peaceful, rational, loving way to deal with it. Argue logically. Don't be controlled by your emotions. Don't yell at people who are just trying to do their jobs the best way they know how. (This relates to the service industry, too. Please, stop yelling at your servers/fast food workers/cashiers. They're trying and they might be having a rough day, too. Please. Try for some empathy.)
But this post isn't supposed to be about that. This is a post about me putting my foot in my mouth today.
I filed my 2013 taxes online at the end of March. I opted for a direct deposit into my checking account, hoping that the money might show up while I was in New York that week.
I didn't notice an increase in my account, so I checked the history and didn't see any deposits. I checked a few times over the next several weeks and never saw the money. I figured we'd deal with it eventually. It was going to be a loan payment anyway, so I didn't really care when it showed up.
I got my 2014 W2 this week and celebrated only having one of them this year. (I had three for 2013: Bethel, GMC, and EoC.) I realized that I could file my taxes any time in the next three months. I could do it right now. But I'm writing this post, so I'll wait.
It has bugged me for months that I never got my return. It was $350 between state and federal, and I wanted my money! I've complained to a few people about it. I checked my email today for a confirmation from the filing service we used. It was right there. It had been filed, the IRS had accepted it, and I could be seeing my money within three weeks.
Where the heck is my money?!?
Dad and I just spent half an hour trying to access my account. We wrote down all the information somewhere, I know we did. But we couldn't find it.
Finally, he checked on a website for the state return and found that they said they'd deposited my $25 on April 9. I looked in my account history and there it was.
Then, to my chagrin (I love that word and almost never use it.), I looked down a few more lines. A deposit had been made by the IRS for my 2013 return. My $336 had been put in my account in early April.
I was so ready to be angry with the filing service, the IRS, and the internet in general for failing me. I was annoyed with the customer service rep who offered no help since we couldn't remember the answer to my security question. It was deeply frustrating.
Instead, I sit here telling you, my dear readers, that I didn't look closely enough at my account history all those months ago. Nine months. It was NINE MONTHS AGO!
I wanted to be the victim of some sort of government scam, so I didn't see what was right in front of me.
My money was in my account. I'll be able to make a bigger loan payment this month, which is awesome. And I'll be able to do it again when I get my 2014 return.
Friends, strangers, people who stumbled across this post, are you looking at the whole situation? I'm going to get a little preachy here. Hang on.
When someone is annoying you or not treating you "fairly" or not accommodating your every need, do you become indignant? Do you view yourself as a victim?
Could it be true that you are simply being told "no" because that's the store policy? Or because they're really out of the dress in your size? Or because the girl just doesn't want to talk to you/go out with you/sleep with you, so walk away. She's allowed to say that she doesn't want to talk to you without having a reason. If you'd like to be allowed to say "no" without having a reason, allow others to do the same.
"No" is a complete sentence.
Sometimes you just have to deal with not getting your way. Sometimes you have to acknowledge that you won't like every decision that people make. Sometimes you are the one at fault because you are behaving like a spoiled child. (Dear parents, say "no" to your children. It will make them better adults.)
Look at the whole situation. You might be the victim. If you really are, I'm sorry. Whatever happened to you never should have happened.
If you're not the victim of something horrible, you might be overlooking important facts because you don't want to see them.
Step back. Try a different perspective. Care about your fellow humans, even if you don't like them. Take a breath before you make a judgment. Don't complain until you've done your research.
You just might find that your $361 had been in your account the whole time.
