Ponder this:

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Making Amends



Overnight after The First Day Of The Month, our hypothetical employee spent some time not sleeping. While not sleeping, he did some reading and some honest thinking. He said some prayers, and read about "making amends" in the Big Book. He thought about how surprised he was, in early recovery, to find the truth of AA's promises.

In the morning he prepared for work, and set off. 
He entered the scene of the crime cheerfully and went about his "opening up" chores. As he was turning on printers and unlocking cabinets, he told his superior, "I would like a moment of your time."
Superior acquiesced, wearing a searching and cautious look. 
Our man smiled. He sat in the superior's guest chair.
He said "I realized that I hadn't apologized yet. So I want to apologize to you for the shock and the stress and the time that you lost on Friday afternoon."
Superior smiled, "Apology accepted."

Our man said, "I was so happy when I left Friday afternoon. It was so nice to have had things right!"
"I was too!" the boss said. "That's why I was so upset when I found cash and checks in the garbage."
"I want to make amends to you," said our hero.
"Okay."
He said "I think I know how it happened. I wasn't operating on all cylinders on Friday...and I think it was because of some things I think I can do things differently, when you get to where you feel like you can trust me again."
The boss said, "The problem is that you're working out of class right now, and the class you're in . . . you aren't supposed to handle money. I don't think our insurance would cover a loss."
"Oh," said our friend, feeling better already to know it wasn't hatred or disgust but purely a business decision
(What? What? It isn't all about me???)

The boss said, "I understand your title might be changing..."
"Yes, the Power That Be is looking into that."
"...and if you're reclassified then we would be covered if money was lost."
Our friend asked, "Can't I even enter the payment data? That was kind of 'my thing'."
"Yes," said the boss, "My plan yesterday was for you to do that, but by the time we got the mail and got it sorted, it was getting too late so I had Phyllis do it. I'm still going to have you enter the payments, but you'll only get the slips, not the checks or the cash."
Disappointed, our boy made a sick face.
"...because of the insurance," continued the boss.
"Oh, good," said the employee. "Well. I'm going to go enter these receipts now," and he rose and took the receipt book to his work station and went to work, feeling much better. 
"We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed. We stick to our own. If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result." (Big Book Chapter 6)
Making Mistakes Means Making Amends ~Daily Herald October 24, 1998

12 comments:

Lord Wellbourne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lord Wellbourne said...

Joy, rapture, and the return of self worth. I'm glad our 'hypothetical friend' will now be able to get some much-needed rest!

Wanda..... said...

We learn from our mistakes! Good ending!

Barb said...

Good deal! A productive and proactive discussion which cleared the air. Now, I hope our hero releases pent-up stresses in a productive way that doesn't include sliding and spinning in the car. (Hypothetically speaking, of course...)

Anonymous said...

This was a good post. I enjoyed the read.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

It's all about communication.. We ALL make mistakes in life.. We need others to encourage us and not criticize us through these mistakes. We do LEARN --if we LISTEN and TRY... It's all about attitude, and the willingness to make changes and amends --in order to do better.

Great post, June.
Hugs,
Betsy

Carolynn Anctil said...

Beautifully done and well managed.

Autumn Mist said...

Now I think 'our Hero' should go home, have a warm bubbly bath and a cup of hot chocolate and sit by the fire with a good book, and give thanks to whoever he would give thanks to in such a situation as this.

Joe Todd said...

June, good story... This past Tuesday I went to court with a "friend" of mine that I had originally met about 14 years ago. This was my "Friends" 4th DUI.. I was there to give a little moral support. My friend is going to have some lesiure time as a guest of the city and maybe the time to read some "literature" In the future we will hopefully be seeing more of each other. Heading South next week and hopefully will get to play some golf.. Always the best....

週休 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Von said...

Oh excellent outcome, well done our hypothetical worker and whoever supported him!!

Three Rivers, Michigan said...

Interesting couple of posts. May we all remain as positive as Mr. Hypothetical.

(But I really want to know how you knew it was a beaver!)
Three Rivers Daily Photo