"Mommy, what's wrong... your voice?"

My son comforted me when the other day I was experiencing all sorts of frustrations; a rocking chair that had been broken for a month and when we finally got the replacement part, they didn't send the screws to go with it, putting together shelving units that had cryptic instructions and the biggest frustration was that our car got an oil change and came back with a problem.  After my husband and I tried  to reach out to the dealership multiple times and had a suboptimal response, I was frustrated.  I tried to keep it to myself, but as I got off the phone, my son asked- "Mommy, what's wrong?".  I told him everything was ok, assuring him that things were fine.  He didn't buy it.  I answered reassuring I loved him and that everything was ok.  He then said, "but Mommy- I can hear in your voice- you are not ok?"

I realized how my empathetic four year old could tell I was worn out and frustrated.  I explained to him, "Mommy is frustrated because someone is not being nice and doing things the way they should."  "But we are ok," he reminded me.

I sometimes take customer-service situations more personally because I'm in a customer-service type of profession.  I sometimes joke that veterinarians are nice and doctors can afford to be meaner because you get to pick your veterinarian and you can kind of get stuck with your doctor through various things of bureaucracy and health insurance.  We are much more customer-service oriented and that makes me very empathetic to people who are having to break bad news, or deal with situations that are hard.  I DON'T have any tolerance though for people who lie or are less than transparent.  I know my clients deserve the truth and transparency and I work hard to give it, even if it can be difficult at times.  We live in a world where no one and no thing is perfect.  I make mistakes (like forgetting to put something on the estimate).  Others make mistakes, there can be miscommunication.  I've had to deal with difficult serious medical mistakes that were not of my making.  It stinks!  But more often than not, if you are honest and transparent and try to do the best of your ability, most people, including myself are understanding.

My son reminded me though, as irritated as I was with the situation.  We were ok.  Sometimes a four year old can be patient and understanding.