Back in December I wrote a post about gifts. http://mrfire.blogspot.com/2005/12/why-does-santa-give.html
I openly informed everyone that the best gift for me and probably anyone else with a book addiction is an Amazon gift certificate.
But not everyone reads my blog.
A well-meaning friend who I absolutely love and admire sent me an email a week ago, saying he was sending Nerissa and me a surprise.
He asked if we would be home, because he didn’t want the surprise to perish sitting on the front steps.
I figured he was sending fruit, which I love, or a plant, which Nerissa loves.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t an Amazon gift certificate.
Then the other day Fed-X brought the big white box.
I carried it inside, called Nerissa into the kitchen, peeked at the return address, and shuddered.
“I think it’s live lobsters,” I mumbled to Nerissa.
She whipped around, angry, and said, “You’re messing with me! Nobody would do that to us!”
I opened the top flat, careful not to open the inside of the carefully packaged box, and saw a recipe on how to cook live lobster.
I also heard a scratch from inside the box.
You can’t imagine how nauseated we felt.
Sending two animal loving people live animals to cook is not the right gift for us.
I’m sure some people would relish the idea of receiving live lobsters. Not us. If we had to kill animals to eat, we’d be vegetarians or we’d starve.
The point of this blog isn’t about whether it’s right to eat meat or not, the point is about what do you do when you make a mistake?
I wrote the friend who sent the gift to us, thanked him, and said it wasn’t right for us. I was loving and polite in my note to him, careful not to hurt his feelings, but I wanted him to know this gift missed the mark.
If you were him, what would you have done?
This dear friend wrote back, apologizing, letting me know how terrible he felt, and asked me to Fed-X the lobsters back to him, saying he would take them to the ocean and free them.
That was a brilliant answer.
Not only did he know enough to ask for their return, but he knew that we would love knowing he freed those critters.
I sealed the package, gave it back to Fed-X, and the two lobsters with the most frequent flyer miles in history went back home.
But this beautiful turn-around story doesn’t stop there.
My friend sent us the above picture of him freeing the lobsters, and wrote the following email (which he gave me permission to share with you):
“Attached is a photo of me about to release the lobsters.
“Below zero with the wind chill out there yesterday. Also recorded it on video, but having trouble uploading video to my computer.
“I had a crazy idea to launch a “free the lobsters” website, put out a bunch of press releases, put fliers up around towns on the seacoast, etc.
“Would have tons of videos and photos about how “A Crazed Couple From New Hampshire Are Buying Up All Of The Lobsters In New England And Setting Them Free Back Into The Ocean.”
“The site was going to sell tee-shirts that said, “Free The Lobsters”.
But due to the cold, the amount of pictures and video that we were able to take without getting frostbite wasn’t enough. That is something that would have been in ALL of the newspapers around here. Would have been known as the great lobster hoax.
“Oh well. At least they are free and happy now. Again, I am sorry.”
In my book, The Attractor Factor www.AttractorFactor.com, I talk about TIISG.
That means “Turn it into something good.”
My friend who sent the live lobsters turned the negative moment into something good.
Remember TIISG.
And “Free the Lobsters!”
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – I still prefer an Amazon gift certificate http://www.amazon.com/gp/gift-certificates/ over just about anything else you could name, unless you’re planning to send me a 2006 Bentley Continental GT. www.bentleymotors.com Then, I’ll make an exception.
PPS – My latest book, Life’s Missing Instruction Manual, is still an Amazon bestseller. Was #1 for four days. Still in Top 10 on bestseller list right now. You can still grab $13,000 worth of bonuses for getting the book. See www.TheMotherofAllBribes.com Tell friends. They’ll love you for this news. It’s the deal of 2006. It’s sure better than live lobsters in a Fed-X box.
2 Comments
Hey Joe, great story.
I, too, would love an Amazon gift certificate!
(Oh, I nearly forgot! Here’s my Amazon wish list – go nuts!)
But I think you should seriously reconsider about the Bentley. Man, that thing is an oversized hunk of junk. That is so not you.
Happy motoring!
Hey Joe:
You have made my day! The story about the lobsters is a great one.
What a friend to not be upset about your reaction to a gift and then to go the extra mile to please you.
Wow, awesome!
Wendy