Here's today's gem of a story:
I had my bedroom window open this morning and the maintenance person was mowing the lawns and cutting weeds with the weed-whackers and such. All of a sudden the motor stops, there's a pause and then I hear, "Shit!"
Not exactly the word you want to hear after you hear someone turn off the motor to a piece of equipment that has spinning blades of amputation.
But I didn't hear any screaming or crying or yelp of pain, so figuring that he hadn't run over his own foot, I had a good laugh over the situation. I'm sure he just accidentally cut some flowers or hit a tree - which I really don't care about because I'm moving next week and hopefully will never have to deal with these people again.
But the moral of the story is (I'm just going to make one up) that we all make mistakes. And it's okay to swear a little when we do them (hopefully, not around any small children who are like echos to everything adults say).
I always feel a little better about myself when I see someone else make a mistake (one that doesn't affect me) because it reminds me that we're all human. Things happen. They call it "human error" for a reason. Of course we still have to make up for our mistakes but that's the great part of it: we learn.
For anyone who has ever made a mistake while driving and had damage done to their car, you will agree with me that you are more cautious than ever in those same situations. I once hit a car parked on the street while backing out of a driveway. The road was narrow and I didn't check behind me enough, and dinged the car. I will NEVER make that mistake again and am now extra vigilant when reversing my car.
My second car mistake was underestimating the power of concrete in an underground parking lot. I partially blame Toronto for that. Too many damn underground parking lots. And they all have huge concrete support post/blocks and teeny tiny parking spaces, and everyone just drives too fast through them. It's a death trap for cars!
So the next time someone makes an honest mistake and acknowledges it, cut them some slack; remind yourself that we are human and that we all make mistakes. (But if they don't want to admit to their mistake and try to blame someone or anyone around them, then you can call "bullshit" and knock some sense into them).
