Raining Generosity Of Spirit
Last night, I got all dressed and prettied, wrapped a present and pulled a bottle of wine I'd chilled out of the refrigerator to go to a friend's birthday party. It was raining a little as I got in the car -- and raining torrentially by the time I'd gone five blocks.
The rain was so sheeting and harsh that I was terrified just crossing the boulevard. I could barely see and my windshield wipers could not go fast enough on the high-speed setting.
The party was across town, way, way over on the edge of Hollywood. I didn't feel safe going even one more block, so I did what I hate to do when I've said I'd be somewhere -- called the host. Her voicemail picked up, and I said I couldn't come -- explaining and apologizing.
Next, I called the birthday girl -- or so I thought. I just had her number as a text and I thought I remembered it as I dialed. It's a New York area code, though she lives in LA. She answered and I started talking, blurting out that I was in my car with a bottle of wine and a wonderful present I'd wrapped for her, and I felt terrible, and I never do this, but I thought the rain was just too dangerous to drive in...
Her response?
"Who are you calling?"
I said my friend's name.
The woman said, "Well, I'm not her..." but was so kind and sympathetic about my distress. I wish I could remember her words. She signed off with, "Well, you should call your friend..."
And after I hung up, I realized I'd been calling her at around 10 p.m. New York time, and thought she was even sweeter to be so kind and sympathetic.
There's far too little of that these days. I think, the next time somebody interrupts my writing day -- inadvertently, not because they're making money for bothering me -- I'll try to follow this woman's lead and be sweet to them.
Amazing how you can make a difference by extending yourself a little when somebody else has made a mistake.
I have an unfortunately generic name and initials. I get wrong emails all of the time. I try to respond to all of them letting them know that they have the wrong email address. I've ended up on emailing lists from as far away as the UK. And I've also gotten emails allowing me access to someone else's paypal account. Be careful people with generic names, know your real email address. But, if anyone wants to know about cbc from ___'s life, he's in college these days. I've received emails intended for him since he was in high school.
cbc at March 1, 2014 12:08 AM
Nice, cbc.
Amy Alkon at March 1, 2014 5:29 AM
Gracious people apologize even when they are the ones being inconvenienced.
It often defuses a potential volatile situation.
I have become a lot more patient as I get older.
And with modern cell phones it is pretty easy to turn on the do not disturb function so you truly are not bothered, except by genuine emergencies.
Isab at March 1, 2014 10:21 AM
cbc - me too!
I know someone else's email has been misdirected the moment someone invites "me" to a sporting event.
Michelle at March 1, 2014 6:06 PM
About five years ago, while at work one day, I got a voice mail and a series of text messages from an unknown-to-me woman. She was trying to contact a man to tell him she was in town for two days, wanted to "hook up" with him, gave a hotel name and room number, and made a couple of suggestive comments alluding to the activity she hoped they would engage in. The messages also implied that they should be discreet.
I asked several coworkers if they thought I should let her know she'd contacted the wrong number. A couple said I should, a couple said I shouldn't, and a couple of others said I should just show up at the hotel room with a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine.
I didn't want her to think she was being stood up or ignored by the man she seemed excited about seeing. I sent a text reply saying, "I'm not Steve. I think you have the wrong number". Didn't hear any more from her.
Ken R at March 1, 2014 6:06 PM
At my last job (in Missouri), I kept getting automated calls from a pharmacy in Florida for a certain customer to pick up his prescription. I finally called them and suggested that they have this person update his phone number the next time he comes in.
Sosij at March 1, 2014 9:46 PM
Many years ago, I was trying to call a friend. I dialed what I thought was the right number, but got someone else. I double checked my phone book and trie again. Wrong number again. I thought, "Man, I really have stupid fingers today". The next time, I dialed the number very carefully. Wrong number again! I apologized profusely to the person on the other end, who was nonplussed but at least he wasn't nasty.
So I called the operator (this back in the day when phone companies had such things). I explained the situation to her. She looked up the person in her directory and confirmed that I had the correct listed number. Then she tried dialing it. She got the wrong number! She apologized profusely to the person who had just fielded his fourth wrong-number call. She then told me she was sure she had dialed the correct number and was putting in a trouble report. I think the guy on the other end actually got a bit of a laugh out of it.
(The rest of the story: About 20 minutes later, my phone rings. It's a switchman, and he has my friend on the line. He said, "There's a problem with the switch. I've patched your call through a test board. When you're done, call the operator and have her call this test number xxxx and tell them to take the patch down. Make sure you do it or your friend won't be able to make another call." Ah, the days of mechanical switches.)
Cousin Dave at March 3, 2014 7:54 AM
Wow, Dave. You might as well be telling me about the time your cotton gin jammed! :D
Sosij at March 3, 2014 11:10 AM
Yeah, it was a unique experience. And I've taken a scheduled airline flight on a Martin 404 too. (Google it.)
Cousin Dave at March 3, 2014 1:28 PM
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