Bad Shopping Experience..

Now I may not be the nicest person in this world, but I can say I try hard to be nice to everyone. Well I use to...
I recently became a shopper on eBay and although the items I have purchased weren't in the least expensive,four dollars at the most, I still expect good service.
I had ordered a tiny little charm for a braclet given to me by my best friend. With taxes ,shipping and cost it was only $4.95, but I was excited at the prospect of having a new charm. I was also feeling a little proud I'd made an online purchase and was in the swing of things. Well it had been 28 days and although the charm had been paid for the day I ordered it, I had not received it. So I emailed the seller and very nicely ask if he (turned out to be she) could tell me why I had not received my charm.The reply was that it had been shipped and I would receive it in a day or two.Well two weeks went by and still no charm. So I email again and waited for a response, received nothing.So I read up on what to do when you do not receive an item.What I read was that if you get bad service or no service you can leave negative feedback on that person. So I told myself why not, maybe it would keep someone else from getting ripped off,if indeed I had been. So I left a polite negative feedback and as soon as it was sent it was read. It's as if they were sitting there watching for it! I immediately received an email calling me a thief! It was the most hateful email I had ever received and it made me mad and hurt my feelings at the same time. I responded to them saying I did not appreciate being called a thief and if that's how they do business I'm surprised they have any business.I did not wait for a reply, I shut down the computer and went to watch some tv,hoping to calm down. Fifteen minutes later my phone rang and when I answered it was Them! The woman started out talking to me in loud voice and trying to argue with me because PayPal had made her refund my money.I told her I did not receive her charm and was not a thief and didn't care for her calling me one. Then she starts saying how they had sent three charms to me and I had no business giving bad feedback. Well this woman found out pretty fast , this old Arkansas girl doesn't take any crap from anyone! I stood my ground and it wasn't long before she was apologizing and trying to be my friend! She made the comment that she got mad to easy and the Italian in her started coming out. She did her little dance around trying to make light of the whole situation once she figured out I wasn't someone she could intimidate. Once she calmed down and started listening to me and we talked more,she started feeling really bad for acting as she had,and it wasn't long we were talking like normal people. I learnt she lives in Canada and she shared her troubles with me concening her business and life in general.I'm a good listener so I listened and threw in a "I know" occasionally to let her know I was still listening.It was eleven o'clock that night before this lady decided to hang up! She kept asking me if I forgave her for being so rude,was I sure I was ok and would I please disregard her emails from earlier. She then said if I happen to receive the charm to please keep it free of charge, I quickly told her, if it shows up I will pay for it or send it back,I don't keep things I haven't paid for. When we got off the phone I felt proud that I had held my ground. Years ago I would have let this person cause me to lose sleep and feel really bad, but life and growing older has gave me backbone and I for one am glad! I will continue to be nice to people but I won't take any crap!!

Thanksgiving..

Thanksgiving stands out in the holiday season because
it is open to just about everybody. It isn't tied to any
specific religion, and you can pretty much celebrate it
however you want. The only essential traditions are to enjoy a meal
with friends or family and to give thanks for what you have.
In the world of holidays, Thanksgiving is about as simple and
pure as it gets, and has always been my favorite holiday.
This Thanksgiving my son will not be home(he's in France)and
that makes me a little sad. But it helped when I received an email
from him this week asking for my recipe for chicken & dressing,and
to know he and his friends are having their own Thanksgiving celebration.
I'm very thankful he has good friends while so far away from home.
I have a lot to be thankful for and at the top of the list are my family
and friends.

Fall Colors...

Nature's grandest color displays-the autumn tree leaf color change has happened in Arkansas and I love it.The ultimate sacrifice of a leaf-bearing tree is the ultimate in visual pleasure for us.I read that the major factor influencing autumn leaf color change is the lack of water.Not a lack of water to the entire tree, but a purposeful weaning of water from each leaf.Every leaf is affected by colder, drier,and breezy conditions and begins a process which results in its own demise and removal from the tree.Thus,the ultimate sacrifice of the tree and our visual pleasure.