Return To Pooh Corner

As the symbolic marker that summer is slipping away once again, Labor Day always puts me in a funky mood. Even though I’ve lived in Chicago my entire life, I just don’t care for any of the other seasons. They are all too cold for me.

We didn’t really do any partying this past weekend. I was feeling the need to be low-key and I just wanted to enjoy the end of the summer days and the extra day off from work, especially after last weekend’s storm.

Along with my mother, The Goonan and a hard-nosed biker chick, I work for my step-father at his insurance agency and like a good neighbor, we were in high demand last week with claims, except they weren’t really claims. The vast majority of the people who screamed at me all week didn’t have the coverage for flooding and/or sewer backup and had suffered extensive damage. I feel bad for these people because I’ve had sewer back up losses myself and I know how horrible they can be.

My job differs from my co-workers in the fact that they concentrate more on sales and new business, while I review and contact our current book of business to see about any changes they may need to make and offer suggestions for things like say, coverage for flooding and sewer back up, not included on a standard homeowner’s policy. Most people don’t take these coverages when I call and send them letters. When we have a storm, though, they call with losses screaming at me that they pay for insurance and we don’t cover anything. Not true, but I understand they are frustrated.

This leads me off my intended topic, but please people, check your insurance policies and make sure you know what you are covered for and what additional coverage you might need. If your insurance agent won’t sit down with you and do this, then find one who will. That extra $20 a month something might cost you doesn’t seem like much at all when you are looking at the entire lower level of your home floating in smelly, gunky and I’m sure not very healthy sewer water. Trust me.

And like a sewer back up, work stunk last week. On Thursday afternoon, we had a bit for a break from phone calls which allowed for some chit chat time. I try to avoid too many conversations with The Goonan and The Biker Chick, because it never leads to anything good.

Goonan told me he got an e-mail that really made him think. That scared me enough that I continued to ignore him, so he proceeded to tell Biker Chick about this eye opening message. Within three minutes, I felt like I was at a Klan meeting or something. I asked them both to please shut the F* up and The Goonan told me that if I read this e-mail, it would change my “libby” (that’s what he calls me, short for liberal) thoughts.

“Ummm, no thanks, not interested”, I told him as I moved my Barack Obama ‘08 button to a more visible place on my shirt. It makes him crazy when I do that.
Of course, he sent it to me that evening. That’s Goonan. No boundaries and no respect for anything you say. It was as vile, and stupid as expected, but he didn’t only send it to me, he also sent it to my sister! Many years ago, my sister, along with all the siblings at one time or another worked for the family business with The Goonan.

The Goonan and I don’t get along. He says it’s because I’m unwilling to see other’s points of view. Not true. He’s a dipshit, his ideas are crap and I don’t want to hear them.

Compared to my sister, though, I’m pretty passive. She was more than pissed about receiving this e-mail unsolicited forward and I believe she ended their weekend long e-mail discussion by calling him something like whipped cream on a turd and requesting that he never contact her again.

I’m sure I’ll hear about it this morning at work. Not only did I listen to that drama all weekend, the lady who rents the apartment above our office had her toilet overflow and decided to clean her bathroom by filling up the bathtub. I don’t know. Only she forgot that she left the bathtub running and once it filled, it completely flooded the already crappy bathroom mess and came crashing through our ceiling at work. The landlord called me as a keyholder and I went there yesterday to find out that Goonan isn’t the only actual turd I’m going to have to work with today. The one sitting right near my desk wasn’t even covered in whipped cream, either.

Sigh. Life can be pretty shitty sometimes.