Laughing At Your Own Expense

I attended a business network meeting last night, where business owners from my suburb had the opportunity to meet other local businesses and promote their business. During the evening, one of the speakers invited people from the audience to share any experience in which they had made a mistake but could laugh about it.

One of business owners, who owns a mobile automotive repair company, shared his experience where he had gone to a company to do a detailed service of a car. That particular company had a fleet of cars and they were the same make & model, and the same colour. So, he proceeded to do a full detail of a car which took him about three hours and when he was done, he wanted to drive the car and do a road test. He remembered the owner telling him that the key was in the ignition but when he went to start the car, he noticed that the key was not there. He called the owner and after having a discussion on where the key was, the owner decided to come to the car to sort it all out. On seeing which car the mechanic was waiting at, she started laughing because that was not her car! Her car was the one next to it. Unfortunately, he had to do a full service on her car and the owner of the first car received a car service absolutely free.

It is okay to laugh at your mistakes and move on. The best thing to say when you stuff up is from Homer Simpson "Doh!" Do not take yourself too seriously - we all make mistakes. It was good to be reminded that certain experiences can give us a good laugh when we reflect back on it.