Taking the High Road

Yesterday, Emily and I had a pretty crappy morning.

It was the first day of drama camp for her at a new local arts center. Emily loves the stage (don't know where she gets it *grin*) and after having two other camps be canceled earlier this year she had been looking forward to it all summer.

We arrived and checked the place out. After a half hour of waiting it was obvious that something wasn't right and that once again she was going to be disappointed.

I was angry because we had paid for this camp weeks ago and if something had changed we expected a phone call or email letting us know what was going on.

But, even in my anger, I wanted to make sure that I used this as a chance to show Emily how to correctly handle the situation. Yes, I vented both on Twitter and Facebook, but even now as I write this, I'm not mentioning the company by name because honestly you don't need to know it and it wouldn't help the situation at all.

As I called and left a voice mail with the company, I made sure Emily heard how I handled it.

I was direct and let them know how disapointed we were and how it was not the way to make a first impression. At the time I didn't know that my wife was also leaving them a message since I had been texting her updates while we waited.

This could have easily been the end of the story, but I'm happy to report that it isn't.

The person responsible called my wife and apologized. They had canceled the camp the week before and said point blank that they dropped the ball and there was no excuse for not notifying us sooner. She took full ownership for the mistake and when it was suggested she might want to say sorry to my daughter she jumped at the opportunity.

Emily is excited because she wants to go back and see what other classes she can take there. The simple act of owning the mistake and saying sorry made the horrible first impression wash away.

Remaining level headed and civil is always the right decision.

Far too often we jump from angry to asshole without any care for the person(s) on the other end.

Next time before you blow, pause and ask if it is really worth it. The high road is usually the right one, even if it isn't the easiest one.

This post is part of the #PositivelySocial movement that Frank Eliason proposed. I can't wait to read the others that take part.