Trade-off

In exchange for pretending to be a typical asshole customer for 5 minutes, I got my credit card company to waive the late fees and interest charges on the exorbitant vacation bill. While scarcely a princely sum, the sum of charges was enough to fund half my weekly allowance. (Yes, I pay myself an allowance, lest I squander all my monthly earnings in the week following payday.)

I'm really not sure who won that one. Okay, I wasn't rude, I grudgingly admitted my mistake in cutting it too close to the deadline with the last payment, and I sighed plaintively about being stuck with the late charges. But there was this self-righteous, outraged devil that crept into my voice as I went for the coup de grace, and despite the victory won, I couldn't help squirming a little at how I'd won it.

It's a good thing video-conferencing hasn't become a norm yet, or the customer service rep would've seen my wide grin as I faked assholery and then the game would've been up.