Yesterday was going great… until I hit that car next to me in the parking lot…
I woke up yesterday morning, did my normal routine (review my affirmations, meditate, grab a cup of coffee, read, journal, etc.), then headed to the gym for a quick workout.
I’ve got this new Fitbit (Father’s Day present from my beautiful wife), and I LOVE it. So now I have to make sure I get to the gym every morning so it doesn’t show me how lazy I’ve been lately…
Anyway, I leave the gym and head to the grocery to pick up a couple huge 5 gallon jugs of Primo water. As I’m loading one into the car, I forget about the shopping cart, which then develops a mind of its own and veers directly for the car 2 spaces over in the parking lot.
I’m not able to stop the cart before it slams directly into the poor car, leaving a nice, 6 inch long vertical “ding”.
Well, it’s just after 7 am, and there’s no one around, so here comes my moment of decision. I could either just drive off and do nothing, wait around for the guy to come out of the store, or leave a note.
As enticing as driving off was, my conscience just wouldn’t let me do it. As for waiting around, that wasn’t really an option because I had no way of knowing how long this person would be (did they run in for a quick cup of coffee, or are they working a double shift?)
So option C was the plan. I wrote a very nice, apologetic note and just as I started to write my phone number I look up to see someone in the car pulling away.
Now, I like to think that I’m pretty fast, but my doors were still open, the cart was still sitting next to my car, and I hadn’t even found the keys to turn the car on yet. In hindsight, could I have jumped up and down like a crazy person to flag the person down?
I could have – and I regret that I didn’t. I made a mistake.
That’s the thing about life in general, and practicing law in particular.
We are presented with these little opportunities every so often. We can do the right thing (I submit to you that writing the note, even if I didn’t ever get it to the owner of the car, was the right thing to do), or we can live with the consequences of doing the wrong thing.
And most of the time, nobody will ever even know that you hit the car with your cart and drove away.
But the thing is, I would have known. And that is enough motivation for me to do the right thing and write the note, even if I am too slow to flag down the driver as they drive away under my nose…
Hope you have a great day.
Jim
PS – Yesterday I emailed you about a marketing webinar that my friend, Tim Paige is putting on later this week. If you haven’t already signed up, here’s a link to the sign up page. I promise you that Tim is a great teacher and the material he presents will be well worth your time.
PPS – If you are the driver of a white sedan that was parked next to a blue Honda Odyssey yesterday morning at the Harris Teeter at Waverly in Cary, NC, please send me a message so I can give you my insurance info… 😉
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