THE SOUND OF FRUSTRATION
From my recliner in the living room, I could hear the older plumber sighing in our kitchen. He and his partner were here installing a new faucet, and his mumbling under the sink was a little disturbing.
When he came up for air, I decided to do the neighborly thing and check in on him.
And for good reason. Earlier that morning, Jeff mentioned he’d heard that one of the plumbers—an older guy—had smacked his head so hard on a cabinet at an earlier job that he had to be taken to Urgent Care for stitches.
So, naturally, when I saw the two plumbers who came to our house—a younger man and an older one—I was smart enough to connect the dots.
The older man looked weary from the first moment he walked into our house. I was concerned that he had returned to work too quickly after his injury.
He’d been through a lot!
FROM CONCERN TO CONFUSION
So I asked him, “Are you feeling okay?”
He said, “Yes, I’m fine.”
I then asked, “Do you need anything to drink? I’d be glad to get something for you.”
He seemed a bit surprised by my offer, but he politely declined and said again that he was fine.
THE PLOT TWIST
Even though I was refused, I still felt good about my small act of compassion. I later told Jeff that I had checked in on the plumber, making sure he was okay after his rough morning.
Jeff looked at me, amused. “That’s nice,” he said, “but that’s not the guy. The one who cut his head didn’t come here.”
Oh!
That’s when I realized I’d been fussing over the wrong man, someone who had no idea why I was acting so concerned about his well-being. He didn’t know I thought he was the injured plumber.
GET THE STORY RIGHT
In my defense, I wasn’t wrong to be concerned. I was just working from incorrect assumptions.
Isn’t that how it goes sometimes? News is passed along to one person, then another, and somewhere along the way, the facts shift either through miscommunication, misinterpretation, or faulty conclusions.
By the time the last person hears it, the story might be barely recognizable.
I learned a lesson that day: double-check the facts before jumping to conclusions. Ask more questions.
And maybe let the plumbers work in peace.