...and I certainly was more than a bit Grumpy and not even a little bit Bashful; so that only leaves four of the dwarfs unaccounted for.
Last summer, after dealing with a recurring problem all year, I had the mower deck for my tractor rebuilt. It was not cheap, around $1400, and I used it all of about 8-10 times after I got it back. I removed it, used the tractor for snow removal all winter, tilled the garden and then re-mounted the mower. First, I noticed that it had a grease fitting that had snapped off--not a major problem and I figured that I could have done that when taking it off the tractor. While working on that, I noticed that 3 out of the 5 bolts that had held the belt guards down had vibrated out...never noticed that when I'd taken it off.
I got the thing all put together, mounted it to the tractor and started mowing. I got less than 50 feet and the power take off shaft came off. Repeated attempts to make it stay fast failed and it wrecked the hydrostatic drive filter (replaced only a few days before) in the process. Can you see where the grumpy part comes in?
I contacted the place that had done the work and ultimately took it over there. Admitting to the service manager that I was upset right in the beginning, we went through the issues, part by part, and then he did something that many could take a lesson from: he apologized! No excuses, no defenses, just a simple "I apologize."
At this point, I don't know how this mess is going to shake out; but many could take a lesson from that man. My son recently made the point in his blog, Just a Camp Cook: apologize, fix it and move on. That's the first lesson. The second is be honest about your displeasure up front, better everyone knows what's on the table at the start of the game.
Stay tuned to see how it turns out.
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