Controlling the Chaos…Good Luck!

Hi Folks,

It has been a week or so since I checked in. I tend not to write anything unless I have something to say 🙂

The past 3 weeks have been chaos. So let me catch you up. I decided that it was time to finish a house that I have been working on for 4 years. Yes it was turning into a  hobby. My strategy was simple. Rent out my house and move into the new one. Anything that was not done could be done while I was living there. Well, now I am up to my neck in undone stuff and it is chaos.

This morning I went outside to the hose faucet to fill my coffee pot since I have no indoor sinks finished yet. As I looked around my yard I viewed a landscape that looked like a garage exploded and everything was scattered all over the lawn. Under that is a place where grass is supposed to be. Oh yeah,….the grass could use cut as well. I slowly walk back into the house and the half finished kitchen. There was the dishwasher in the middle of the floor. I have no counter tops so my coffee maker is precariously balanced on a cabinet support.

My office is mostly unpacked. My bedroom is almost done. The master bathroom still has no sink. The stairs still have construction boards on them instead of stair treads.  Add to that, I have no idea where half of anything is.

The good news…I made my deadline and made the house habitable in time for the new tenants to move into my house.

Still the last 3 weeks have been chaos.

The other day we were going to Home Depot and stopped for lunch. We brought Buddy, Kim’s dog, since he has decided that since Molly died that eating the house while we were away was a good way to vent his stress. It was a nice 75-80 degrees when we stopped at Pier 29 restaurant, a place close to my house. We parked the truck next to the building and in the shade. We left Buddy in the truck with the windows down and sat where he could see us. Of course he stared at us the whole time stressing out because we were too far away. He LOVES Kim. Whenever he can he makes sure he is between me and her.

After a great lunch at Pier 29 we were sitting and talking. The nice couple sitting behind us for the last hour got up to leave.  The husband hurried to the car ahead of his wife. As she passed our table she began screaming at Kim about how horrible of a dog owner she was and that is was 110 degrees in that car. I tried to inform her that the car was in the shade with the windows open and the dog was just fine and much happier to be here that he would be at home alone. She would have none of it. We were terrible people. She kept screaming all the way out the door. She was vicious in her attack.

Chaos….

Kim was of course upset. The owner of Pier 29 came over to see what was going on. She was very nice. She just opened a month ago. It is a 50’s diner connected to a bar. We were honored to be her first altercation since opening. I would have thought it would have been in the bar…but no it was the diner. I understand that there are people out there that are too stupid to understand that you can’t leave a dog in a car in Georgia in the summer with the windows rolled up. Of course they do have to put warning labels on drain cleaner about not drinking it as well 🙂 I know there are stupid people out there. I also know that under the right conditions, when you take the proper care, you can do things like leave a dog in the car in the shade with the windows rolled down.

I was talking to Kim about it and we were discussing how many people do this every day. The rush to judgment based on a projection of what they think they are seeing. Then they react as if it is true. This woman had an emotional response to seeing a dog in a parked car. She ignored any other information like where the car was. Were the windows up or down? Was there a compelling reason to bring the dog? What was the actual temperature in the truck? Were we watching him to make sure he was alright? Was the dog panting from heat or stress? She reacted before checking any facts at all. She saw a dog in a car and she had a violent reaction.

BTW…when we returned to the truck it was still cool inside.  Buddy was happy and fine. He was having a great day because we were taking him with us.

I would like to say that I completely blew off the attack and went on with my day. I would like to say that, but it would be a lie. Even though I intellectually knew that Buddy was fine and that the nutty woman was completely wrong I began to question myself. Did I do the wrong thing by leaving Buddy in the car? Was I horrible? Those thoughts simmered throughout the rest of the day. I think it is normal for things to bother you. It is not normal for it to stop your day dead in its tracks.

I have 2 points I would like to make.

1. There are no absolutes in life. In general you should not leave a dog in a parked car in the summer. If you take the proper care and monitor the situation, you can.

2. When you are about to judge someone based on your own opinion of what is happening you might want to get all the information before opening your mouth or taking action. There might be more to the story than just what you see.

For me…back to sorting out the house. I have a few more weeks of chaos ahead. That is OK. You will never be able to avoid the chaos. Your goal should be to be able to function in spite of it 🙂

BTW, Gold Member Seminar this Sunday at 11 AM eastern time.

Have Fun

Tom