One of my least favorite words…

I needed to return something on Friday to Circuit City so I could exchange it for something else.  Upon trying, the clerk informed me that she couldn’t do it because there return policy was 30 days and I had bought the item 31 days before.  I asked her if she was really going to make a big deal out of 1 day?  She said, “I’m sorry, I can’t do it.”

Ah, the word can’t.  It’s definitely one of my least favorite words right up there with sin, liver, committees and “spaghetti dinners” (Ok, that was 2 words but I couldn’t resist).  Most of the time “can’t” is just a code-word for “won’t”.  I absolutely hate to be told I can’t do something or it can’t be done for me.  Usually it just drives me to prove the person wrong. 

Where am I going with this?  Well before you use the word “can’t”, make sure you’ve explored all the options.  Are you saying you can’t because it’s the easy way out, or is it legitimately something that for right now can’t be done.  Most times you’ll discover that if you get creative, you can figure out a way to make it happen.

So how did the Circuit City story?  With me politely thanking the clerk for doing her job and informing her that although she couldn’t I was pretty sure her manager could.  The result…I got my item exchanged and we all lived happily ever after sinning by serving on committees, eating liver and spaghetti.

Two questions for you…what word do you hate?  Also, give an example of a time you were told that something couldn’t be done but yet you proved the critics wrong.