This has been an interesting week at work for me. We have a big event going on, and I have a small part in the grand scheme. My job has a variety of duties but the one that was causing the headache was dealers for our company stopping by to pick up orders. Some orders weren’t ready. One fella said he was told by his boss not to come back without the order that I discovered hadn’t even been placed when he arrived at my desk. Egad! Our sales staff was directing them my way and I wasn’t kept in the loop. In these situations, I have to do a lot of impromptu unraveling of mysteries such as: finding order numbers, locating missing orders, keeping customers happy in the lobby while they wait and, occasionally, giving them bad news that what they want won’t happen. Certain times are worse than others but this was turning into one of those multiple times everyday situations. I sometimes had two or three people needing help all at the same time and then the phone would ring. You get it.
This happens in all jobs and at home in some form or another. Not enough of you to go around. Add in the fact that I didn’t cause the situation, but the consequences of other’s actions are falling on me and it’s a recipe for frustration. I was doing my best to be gracious and accommodating but it was getting harder.
When day 3 of this started in early, I was thinking to myself, “Would you sales people quit telling people that they can waltz in the front door and expect an order that they just placed to be ready on short notice?!” I know sales is a “make the customer happy” sort of deal, but I don’t work miracles. I was looking for the nearest wall to beat my head against it. I was considering letting a few of them know about the chaos that they were creating.
After I got the latest debacle sorted out, I got an email from one of the Sales staff. “Thanks Dawn, it’s been a crazy week!” I started thinking about all the hours that they had been putting in as of late – weeks leading up to this and then a significant ramp up last week, through the weekend and into this week. They were all exhausted, and I could see it on their faces. They were running from early morning to late at night, day after day. I stopped. Thinking about them instead of me gave me compassion that I had been lacking. They weren’t intentionally trying to make things difficult for me but rather trying to keep a lot of people happy while managing a big event. That’s a challenge! Putting myself in their shoes gave me a new perspective, one that I needed.
My attitude changed on a simple thank you. I started thinking about all the verses that talk about giving thanks in all circumstances (I obviously hadn’t). Throw in a little Veggie Tales for good measure. “…. But a thankful heart is a happy heart.” Humbling. It all sounds so simple but it sure is easy to forget. Then I was even more thankful that I hadn’t followed through on my plan to “inform” them of the chaos that was happening at my desk. I needed to ask God for grace and wisdom to handle things appropriately, do the best I could and trust God to work out all the situations that were out of my control.
James 4:6 – “But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””