CHUTZPAH

CHUTZPAH: Dictionary definition: noun, Yiddish
shameless audacity, utter nerve, gall, effrontery, impudent rudeness, lack of respect, supreme self-confidence.

[My favorite definition from Leo Rosten: a man, who, having killed his parents, threw himself on the mercy of the court because he was an orphan!]

Last night, on Facebook, I read someone's posting about the unsatisfactory service he had received by AAA. When I inquired this was the story:

The person had run out of gas and he called AAA to bring gas. When AAA asked for his membership information, he told AAA that THEY needed to call his GREAT-GRANDMOTHER and she would give permission to use her membership card. Of course AAA refused to do that. He said he told AAA that he couldn't understand why they wouldn't help him because his grandfather had used his great-grandmother's membership and didn't have his own card.

I asked, "Are you crazy; why do you think you should use it?" He said, "She pays $100 a year, so why shouldn't I be able to use it?" I said, "Well, because you are not on her plan and if you were she would have to pay extra." He posited that that wasn't fair because he is family. I asked, "So you think that $100 membership should cover her, her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and in-laws?" He said that he did because AAA was supposed to help people. I said, "AAA is supposed to take care of the people who have PAID to have that coverage--it's not a charity!"

I asked him, "Do you realize that you could cause your great-grandmother to lose her coverage by telling about your grandfather using it illegally?" He countered with, "They can't do that." I said, "If she had committed fraud by letting unauthorized people use her service, then they most certainly could--why would they want such a risky person?" He said, "There's no fraud, I'm family." I said, "But you're not on HER Family Plan!" I asked him, "In what universe do you think this wouldn't be considered fraud?"


Can you believe the "SHAMELESS AUDACITY, UTTER NERVE, GALL, EFFRONTERY, IMPUDENT RUDENESS, LACK OF RESPECT AND SUPREME SELF-CONFIDENCE" it takes to EVEN think this way?