Gift Gaffe

Have you ever been given a gift, then have it taken away from you? Well, this horrible situation has actually happened to me twice.

The first time was at a Modern Montessori International (MMI) preschool where I was teaching for my practicum. During the Christmas celebration, all the teachers were given a gift by the school, including me. The next day, however, the office girl came to ask me to return the gift as she said it has been mistakenly given to me as it's only for school staff.

You can imagine how pissed off I was. You mean, the management can't even afford to give gifts to the practising teachers there? It was only a measly CD anyway, not like some expensive $100 gift. I did not return the gift. I told the office girl I had already given it to someone else.

The second incident happened recently. I was given a $50 karaoke voucher by a friend who said that she doesn't sing karaoke so why don't I take it instead? I asked her, "Are you sure?" She replied, "Sure, sure. Take it." I happily accepted it and arranged with my k buddies for a night out.

Suddenly an email shattered my dream of using that voucher. The "friend" who gave the voucher called for a meeting involving me and a few other toastmasters and indicated that she would hold the meeting at either the Suntec City Guild House or Kent Ridge Guild House karaoke room. And in brackets, she wrote: "I believe Joni has my $50 voucher."

Imagine my shock and incredulity! The thought of lying that I had already used the voucher did cross my mind but I did not want to sacrifice integrity for this. I returned the voucher to her. She did not even apologise.

Why do people do such things? They don't think about the consequences of their actions. A small matter but it can hurt so much.

I will move on... and remind myself: Don't sweat the small stuff.. It's all small stuff.

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
~William Blake (1757 - 1827)