It’s Tuesday again and you know what that means???
Yes, that’s right… it’s (Not so) Tall Tale Tuesday. See the first of these posts for the background of these tales. The next prompt in the list on A Medium Corporation by Bianca Bass is:
Write about a lesson you learned the hard way.
Man, I have to admit that this one was another challenge for me. And mostly because there are a few big life lessons you sometimes learn the hard way but that you don’t want to share on a blog for the world to read. Sorry world. We’re just not that close yet.
So, I’ve got a somewhat lighter (not so) tall tale to share. I call it:
Pride and Coffee
It was my first day of work at Texas Health Resources in the HR department. We had a very nice sized break room, complete with a commercial-grade coffee maker. During my first trip to the break room for coffee, I came upon an almost empty coffee pot and I was about to pour the last cup. I didn’t want to be that person. You know…the person that drinks the last cup and then doesn’t make anymore so the next person that comes in has to make a pot and then wait around for a cup of coffee. Nobody wants to be that person (or at least wants to be caught being that person… especially not the newby on the floor).
So, what did I do??? I decided to make another pot.
Now, understand that I rarely make coffee at my house. I’m very spoiled and my loving husband usually makes it but I get the basics of a traditional coffee maker. This one seemed pretty similar, just larger so I didn’t want to bother anyone with asking how to use it. Too much pride.
Instead I hunted through the cabinets to find the filters, etc and poured the water into the top of the machine. I turned it on. Then I stood back for it to do its thing, thinking to myself what a good person I was for not being that person and for figuring out the big coffee maker all by myself.
Then it happened. It started leaking everywhere. Panic insued.
What was going on?!? Hadn’t I done the right thing?!?
At that point one of the senior Administrative Assistants on the floor came in to find me trying to desperately stop the leaking and clean up the gigantic slip hazard I’d created. Did I mention I was the program manager of Employee Safety so it was my job to prevent things like this from happening???
Luckily, she was very kind and understanding about it, explaining that this coffee maker had integrated water built into it. However, by me pouring water into it, not only did I cause it to overflow, I also managed to break it.
The entire floor had to go without coffee the rest of the day and the following thanks to the new girl attempting to make coffee.
Lessons learned the hard way:
- Don’t ever let pride get in the way of clarifying the right way to do something. That’s a nice way for saying don’t be too proud to ask for help.
- Being the newby is tough. Be kind to those folks. Everyone has been there at least once.
- Don’t drink the last of the coffee. Wait until someone else comes and drinks it so they can make a fresh pot. (I’m kinda joking.)
Happy (not so) tall tale Tuesday. I hope you all sleep well and wake up to a pot of coffee someone else made for you!
Chicken Minus Head 