Ending note for Operation: Costanza (Day 1):
I fucking knew it; it paid off to be nice all day today.
A bit of wear on my moped tire (rear tire, fortunately) was spotted last week, and I spent the entirety of the recent events trying to get it replaced ASAP, while getting my oil changed, but a minor hiccup was that they needed to order one, and it might finally arrive tomorrow.
The good: The tire finally popped, in the safety of a parking lot, at low speeds (a minor whiskey throttle occurred as I tried regaining control; Yet another WT I tamed. Not an easy skill; Good thing I learned it (learned from riding a jet ski previously).).
The bad: I had to haul the thing a good distance (several blocks in some serious heat).
The better: Turns out thanks to being nice, and staying the course all day, my boss just saved my ass at the end of the day.
As it turns out, they're allowing me to park my moped at their place, which is about the same distance haul to the shop I need the tire replacement from. I already built up the experience earlier tonight. And to further help me out, they let me borrow a work vehicle to head home with; of course, I have to pay the gas difference; an acceptable loss. Fortunately, I have tomorrow off already, which is still true; and provided everything works out, I should be able to return the work vehicle, get my moped fixed, and still enjoy my day off, hanging out at the springs with my family.
See kids, it still pays to be nice; sometimes even an enemy can lend a helping hand, under the right circumstances.
EDIT:
Additionally, I'm back to 2-weeks policy already, or at least, being permitted to leave on more peaceful terms. In a sense, I'm a job necromancer now. I'm unfired, but at least given a more graceful leave when the time comes (still intent on leaving soon anyway). Made that clear to my boss, so we're at least back to neutral terms again.
This happened really damn fast. Got a desired result far sooner than I expected. Did not expect a 1st-day delivery. Nice to be able to take my time now, and convince my boss that there's no pressure. A more mutually beneficial result should be easier to reach now.
I'm actually happier with this result, and what it can provide, compared to how others normally would have reacted (plenty of mean ways to go). Nice to know the 'test of character' (mostly circumstances, and judging reactions and such) bits have been yielding consistent results. I think I got through to them. Seems they're cooled off now, and a bit more level-headed. Speaking of 'test of character', I feel mine has been tested all day as well. Nice to feel I got a passing grade, at least.
At least, if you want to count karma as a factor/benchmark.
Yes, it sucks the tire popped, but it happened at a better time than you think. Safety of parking lot and low speed, and no longer needing to worry about it, now that the damage is already done, and we're already set to fix it after the fact ASAP, along with a more convenient than it appears place to happen, a nice final test of character, with a mutually passing score; at least, personally seeing. Overall, karma score looks in the green here. Had I handled everything more differently, imagine how different the result could have been? I mean, with a more hostile mindset, I could have been unprepared to tackle the popping, and could have been injured, or have it happen in a less ideal location (like on the road at full throttle (Being a 50cc moped, it's top speed is the speed limit. Stop worrying.), or in a worse place to haul from; especially with today's weather.). Not to mention, despite the past, I still got helped out because I was nice; had I not been, I probably would have been given something equal to an "I told you so", or something; or given some crap about how helpless I would be and other BS like that.
EDIT EDIT:
I wonder if anyone wants/needs my experience to serve as an aesop or something? Nice to see myself pass one of my harder/est tests:
The true mark of a "Nice Guy" (as lame as it sounds, it's a bastard of a test, when you think about it.). Didn't expect it to also be so short.