Back in the Saddle Again

Well, I'm back. And I'm not happy about it, not one bit. Back to work sucks. So, here's some holiday cheer to make your (and my) day a little bit better.

Story #1

While on vacation in Tulsa I thought that I deserved a little extra treat. After all, if I'm on vacation, I'm going to BE on vacation! So I made an appointment for an hour long massage upon high recommendation of my mother in-law. The next day she drove me to my appointment and planned to pick me up in a hour so we could go do some power shopping (I think she's the only person I know who can keep up with my speed of shopping ... as in all-day-long marathons.) Upon arrival at my appointment I was surprised to find that the lady was not yet there. I waited for another 15 minutes before someone called her at home. Piecing one side of the conversation together, I discovered that nobody had called to tell her that I had an appointment with her (I had scheduled it on her day off, I was the first appointment of the day). After explaining that I could not reschedule for next week because I was on vacation, she rushed in to fill my appointment. At the start of the massage I looked at the clock, she was 40 minutes late. But, it was not her fault at all. How was she supposed to know about me if nobody told her? Someone screwed up big time! I decided not to get stressed about it because I was on vacation, and who cares? Not like I have some big schedule to keep. After an hour of complete bliss she told me again how sorry she was for the confusion and that there would be no charge for the massage. Heck yeah! So, I left her a rather large tip. What a nice Christmas present from a complete stranger.

Story #2

Once in a while you will meet a very honest person. Someone you feel really understands what good human nature is all about. BSC and I were lucky enough to come across such a person while remodeling our kitchen. Yes, he is a CONTRACTOR -- an honest contractor (sounds like an oxymoron if I've ever heard one). Of all honest and hardworking people, this man has impressed me beyond belief. Not only did he make our kitchen look amazing and finish it in less than one month, he did all plumbing, electrical and extra work most cabinetry places would never consider doing. Even though he was a communist and liked to rant and rave about his beliefs to us while working on our kitchen (most of which were more entertaining than serious), I quite enjoyed having him around. He would show up when he promised, and call us if not. He genuinely seemed to care that we got what we wanted in our house. He even helped us with some things not pertaining to the kitchen at no charge. Here's the best part: When it came time to pay him, we got to choose how much money we should give him. He gave us the amount of hours worked and the amount of money he spent on supplies. Any money given to him for labor was our choice. We came up with a number we could afford and thought was fair. Even though we had no idea how much to give him, we still thought he deserved way more than what we could offer. One week after we gave him the money, we returned from our trip to Tulsa. We drove up to my parents house to get our kids (cats, Simba and Benny). Upon arriving, my mom said, "We have a surprise for you."
"What?"
"Bob was up here to give me a quote on redoing my kitchen and he brought me this." She handed me an envelope. Inside the envelope was money ... a lot of it. "He says that you overpaid him, and thought you could use this money more than he could."
I was completely dumbfounded! We thought we had underpaid him, not overpaid him. Even if we did overpay him, how many people would be honest enough to return the money being that it was our choice how much we paid him? Almost nobody! I think the feeling that someone would be so honest is more satisfying than getting back the money.