This morning, I woke up to probably the most frightening thing that could ever happen. There was a mouse in my room at the house I'm currently living in with two roommates.

Even writing that sentence gives me hives and I'm so close to doing one of those Hollywood screams with real tears.

I quickly made a phone call to my father, (yes, a girl in her late 20's still calls her dad when there's a problem), and insisted that he come and help me pack a bag to satisfy me for an indefinite period of time.

My fear of mice (and the diseases they carry, and their smell, and the fact that they're hairy) is holding me back from living in a greatly convenient area of the city, and enjoying my home when I'm there. For weeks, I've been noticing the mice, and have been avoiding the house as much as possible because I didn't want to see them. I became used to avoiding the kitchen, ordering food in, drinking from liter bottles of soda, and going directly from my room, to the bathroom, back to me room again.

This little hairy thing is holding me back from succeeding given the extreme anxiety I get from it.


Back in my years on the phone, I was deathly afraid of some objections: "Oh, I don't have a down payment but I really need a car for my 10 kids. It can't be a used 4 door car, it has to be an SUV, and I don't want it to be one that may break down on the side of the road".

"Let me see what I can do", would frequently be my response. I'd realize that Mother Goose had 300 scores and no chances of getting a car. I'd talk to her for an hour, apologizing, saying I'd get back to her if something came up, etc. I literally wasted time that could have been spent on real, live, leads.

Is it good customer service? Yes. Are mice animals? Yes. Did I go a little too far by providing false hope to a degree that cost me time and money? YES. Am I going a little too far by fearing the mice and not going to the source of the problem, hereby wasting time and money? Yes.

This morning I sent an e-mail to my landlord and roommates insisting that the problem be taken care of. I gave choices, gave either-or-scenarios, and at the end said "I'm sorry to have to do this to you guys, but if it doesn't improve, I can't live here".

Think of how much time I could have saved by saying this when I first started seeing mice. Think of how much time I could have saved by telling Mother Goose that "At this point., I don't think we can get you what you want at a cost that's affordable. Let's revisit this in 6 months, and in the meantime, just pay everything on time."

A 20 minute e-mail, A 20 second suggestion, all avoided hours and weeks of stress and fear.

What's your fear, if any, in the automotive realm? Is there one objection that always gets you? Is it the little elderly couple that waddle in on their walkers and want a brand new car, but their kids bled their credit dry?

IS IT MICE? :)