Getting what we need

At Home Depot a cell phone dropped on the floor behind me. It skidded to a stop at the back of my heel. “Thanks for dropping my phone!” a woman’s voice said angrily. A little boy of five responded “You’ve dropped it too, mom.” To which mom snapped back “Yeah, but its my phone!”

Both mom and son attempted to justify their own behavior, supplying reasons for why they should get a pass on the mistakes made. The son saying that he only did what his mom had done. Mom attempting to justify her anger at someone else’s careless treatment of her stuff.

I wonder what mom says if the phone stops working from the drop. If she has to replace it, will she cop to the truth, claiming ownership. “Excuse me miss, have you ever dropped the phone, or exposed it to water?” “No, it just stopped working. I don’t know what happened.”

It really boils down to saying what we need to, to justify our actions or getting our approval needs met.