Oh, that mighty pen.

It really is mightier than the sword. Actually, I didn't use a pen... I used my computer. But that isn't as catchy.

My family, specifically my husband, is extremely hard on our drinking glasses.  I get new drinking glasses for Christmas just about every two years, and in those weeks leading up to Christmas day, we're drinking out of Dixie cups and mason jars. It's pitiful.

This past Christmas, I received my bi-yearly gift of very pretty Anchor Hocking drinking glasses.  My husband picked them out himself, and got that brand because the box looked like it came from a reputable company.  Those marketing folks, they really know what they're doing.

Imagine my surprise when the first glass was broken before the year was out... and the second followed shortly after.  And then the third.  It just got uglier from there.  Now, we are hard on our glasses (Of course by 'we', I mean my husband. I am gentle and kind and wash those glasses with the hands of angels.) but there was no reason these glasses should have broken so quickly and in such succession.  My husband has scars from these broken glasses.  They are in the shape of Wayne Gretzky's face.  No lie.

Anyhoo, I sent an email to the folks at Anchor Hocking.  I thought that the particular model of glass we got was perhaps a bit more fragile than it should have been... and since these glasses are not cheap enough to buy every month, I needed to let them know that I wasn't going to be buying another Anchor Hocking set anytime soon.  They responded by asking me for a sample of the broken glass, which wasn't hard to produce since these glasses broke if a butterfly sneezed within a four-mile radius.  We had three left from the set and two broke within the next two weeks... so off they went on a journey to Anchor Hocking.  They promised to reimburse my postage and examine the glasses to see if it was a design flaw that could be corrected to prevent future consumers from a faulty product.

Imagine my surprise when I received this in yesterday's mail:

If you look past the box, out the window, you'll see my husband's head. Sometimes, when I'm cranky at him, I pretend to squish it between my fingers.  But I digress.

A brand-new box of glasses!  I haven't opened it up yet, but I plan on breaking those puppies in (or not breaking them in, as I will strive to do) as soon as I can muster the energy to do the dishes.

My point? WRITE TO COMPANIES ABOUT STUFF.  Good stuff, bad stuff, indifferent stuff, WHATEVER.  Write to them and see what happens.  Make it your goal today to send a letter to a company, any company.  Sometimes, nothing happens, and you've wasted three minutes composing an email. Sometimes, you get a $0.25 off coupon.  But sometimes, you get a free replacement set of glasses that you will not allow your husband to touch.

I'm still waiting for the brand-new car from General Motors, but I'm sure if I send enough emails, it will be along shortly.