There’s an old adage, “you never know who is watching,” reminding us to always be on our best behavior, work hard, and set a positive example for others. However, I was recently in a rideshare vehicle and received another reminder: “you never know who is listening.”
As I was in the vehicle headed to my destination — a nail appointment before traveling the following morning — I decided to give the establishment a call to let them know I was on the way. It was at that point, I learned that the salon was closing early because business had been slow and the rain was heavy. They asked me to come the following day, but my flight took off an hour before the business even opened.
Now let’s be clear, I was furious. They were closing an entire hour-and-a-half early and completely disregarded my appointment.
I couldn’t believe that they just forgot about me and then refused to maintain the appointment, but I didn’t feel there was a need to yell or go into detail about how irritated I was– and trust me, I was.
I expressed my disappointment in a calm but firm and clear manner. After all, I was paying money to drive to a place that wouldn’t be open at the time of my arrival, and had been looking forward to the appointment most of the weekend.
When I hung up the phone, my Uber driver said, “Wow, you were so kind! Most people would have gone off, or cussed them out from the inconvenience. You kept your calm and still got your point across. How did you learn to do that?”
Now let’s be clear, it was super inconvenient and I didn’t feel calm. But imagine had I reacted in the way he had expected? I wouldn’t have had a teachable for the driver, nor myself.
I told him I had been very intentional about working to control my reactions to things that frustrate me and that it felt great not getting too angry, so I could find another solution.
We had a great conversation about keeping calm and maintaining our peace, and how important that is with all people — from the workplace to family members to entrepreneurs who make supporting their business difficult with their practices.
Take a second to breathe, collect your thoughts and then react. Be sure to honor your feelings, all the while keeping your cool and finding a solution that works.