Who says Whining doesn't Work?

On Sunday night I was standing in line at the grocery store waiting somewhat patiently to check out when I heard a mother arguing (for lack of a better word since it's really hard to have a debate with your toddler) with her three year old daughter. The child wanted a candy bar and the mother was refusing this request.

"But I want one!" said the child.

"No" replied her mother, "You haven't had dinner yet."

"Puhleese!" begged the little girl.

"Olivia, stop whining!" urged the mom, "You won't get your own way just because you keep on about it."

Hmmm!

I remember my parents saying the same thing to me when I was little, but now I wonder if this is in fact true.

Remember the idiom,

The squeaky wheel gets the grease?
meaning the person who complains the most gets the best service.

So perhaps whining does work??!!

I know that I have given in to my kids when they repeatedly ask for something that really isn't worth fighting about (staying up ten minutes longer, a muffin for breakfast instead of a healthier choice, or a sleep over with a friend)

A few weeks ago I was trying to buy a swimming pool for Jenna and Sierra after seeing one on sale in the Zeller's flyer. I drove to the nearest store, but found they were out of stock in the size that I wanted. The sales person offered to contact another store for me and put the desired pool on hold for me if I was willing to drive to the farther store. I was and promised to be there within a few hours. I arrived to the sporting goods department, found a boxed pool with my name taped prominently on the side and then realized the clerk had put my name on the wrong pool. Of course, there now wasn't any pools available in the size I needed, so I asked for the manager.

The poor girl managing the department had recently hurt her leg, so as she hobbled up to me, I smiled, asked her if she was okay and the proceeded to tell her my sad story of travelling the extra distance, taking time out of my busy day and how disappointed my daughters were going to be if I showed up back home pool-less.

My innovative suggestion was that in order to recover my time and energy the store should sell me the next sized pool as the advertised price of the smaller pool.

The manager easily agreed.

Now granted, I was polite and calm, but also I definitely whined a bit and it worked!

I also can remember several situations when friends of mine complained that they were overlooked for things like a parking spot by the door at work, seats to a concert, or even something that another friend was giving away for free, yet when I asked them if they ever let their boss, co-worker or friends know they were interested in those offerings they always replied, no!

My friend, Lisa called me the other day and told me how busy she was in the office. Which is great because when we last had lunch she was worried that she wasn't busy enough. I told her how happy I was to hear that things had turned around and she said, "Who says whining doesn't work?"

So...it's okay to ask for things, it's okay to tell people what you need and it's okay to plead your case about something you really want (Tantrums are never acceptable, but every so often whining might be exactly what you have to do!)

Just a thought!