#196 - The Power of an Apology (sde iv no. 3)

So, I did like a monumentally stupid thing last Sunday night.

After a day of traveling to Vermont I hit my vape in my hotel room thinking it was a vaaaaape and it would be fiiiiiiiiine and uh, well, it set off the fire alarm and I didn't even think my vape could possibly be the cause so I left it on my bed and fled the room in a panic because I thought the Inn was on fire.

It wasn't!

Just my stupid little vape causing an Incident.

And obviously they realized what happened because I left my vape in the middle of the bed because I thought there was a fire and then when the manager was like really nice about it to me but also a little "don't do it again" I flat panicked and lied and said I hadn't.

And then I went up to my room and cried because I'm a guilty person by nature and I felt SO BAD that I had disrupted so many people's evenings (there are maybe eight of us staying here and three firefighters came) but worse I had LIED ABOUT IT to a VERY NICE LADY.

So after spiraling and wondering how I was going to walk in and out of here for the next few days and debating just packing up and making my sister come get me so I could stay on her couch, I decided to just...apologize.

Come clean! Say sorry! She already said she wasn't going to kick me out and the fire department wasn't Mad At Me what was there to lose?

Nothing!!!!

But so SO much to gain!

LIKE A CLEAR CONCIENSCE!

Which I got!!! Because I apologized very sincerely for lying and she was SO NICE ABOUT IT.

Like, told me where the smoking porch was because she wanted me to feel comfortable staying here for the next few days levels of nice about it!

And then I stayed for three more days and never ran into any front desk people again throughout my entire stay and it was totally fine and no one ever brought it up again.

Because while the event was so large, it was also so small. Nothing was actually on fire and we're all adults.

But I do think I learned a lot about apologies. I think when you mean them, they always matter. I lied, I didn't want to be a liar, coming clean fixed the whole thing.

Plus the lady apologized because she was worried SHE had been too harsh to ME the idiot with the vape!

Incredible.

Apologizing rules.

Things don't have to stay complicated if you're willing to be sincere about wanting them to...stop being complicated.

Fixing shit is more interesting anyway.

Sometimes, the repair is the whole point.

And idk I guess like, don't hit your vape at an inn or in a hotel because they're super sensitive to particles in the air in general!

Being an adult is so silly because it is often just putting the most basic lessons into practice and still managing to be surprised by the results.

Also, when I was in full panic mode I was able to recognize that "this will be really funny when it stops being so stupid and embarrassing" and like Now! That's What I Call Coping Skills vol. 48!