Episode #31 - Miscommunication & Frustration

We had an appointment in Lexington for Dane and were going to pick up our new car afterwards. However, we were called and originally led to believe they put us off and never fixed the car, and that I took a day off of work for nothing. I was frustrated and upset, but once we got down to the bottom of things, there was simply a miscommunication. It was ready, and I felt stupid for how I acted. Well...the Proverbs have much to say about the fool and his anger. How we are quick tempered without learning the full story and say or do things we don't mean. I pray that God may help me to learn to be more like the wise man who controls his emotions and less like the fool. 

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Transcript

Welcome to the Set Your Mind Above podcast, where every day, ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths! I am your host BJ Sipe, and I’m so glad you’ve tuned in today! I am excited to share my life & my faith with you, and I sure hope you’ll do the same with me along the way.

To begin this podcast, I have a special message for all of those who have been listening in via Apple Podcast. I’m sure you noticed, but no new podcast uploaded on Tuesday, and yesterday’s podcast did not upload until this morning. After the most recent apple update, there has been a difficulty with Apple updating podcast episodes for thousands of podcasters, not just myself. To catch up on the most recent episodes until Apple can fix this, be sure to visit the Facebook page, my Buzzsprout page, or even listen in via Spotify or some other platform. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, and hopefully the fix this soon. 

Well, today was…interesting to say the least. It actually begins by backing up to yesterday when we were purchasing our new Ford Flex at the dealership up in Georgetown, KY. They were going to keep the car to fix one thing with the brakes, then detail it and call us when they were done. They said it was next in line right around 2 pm and should have been done by yesterday evening, this morning at the latest. They said we could absolutely pick it up by 10:30 am today, so I decided to take the morning off work and come up with Kylie to get the car since she had to run to Lexington anyway before that for a follow up appointment with Dane. But before we left yesterday, our sales associate told us he would give us an update last night and then again this morning so we knew when to come get it. Well…I never heard from him last night. In fact I had to track him down, and he finally texted me back around 8 pm saying he had no updates for me, just come tomorrow after 10:30. I woke up this morning and after the dealership opened tried to reach out to our sales rep, but he wouldn’t text back or answer the phone. I finally got through to someone at the dealership, who said our sales rep was off today and they would call me back immediately with more information. Well, we got in the car to head to Dane’s appointment and still had heard nothing by the time we got to Lexington. Finally I got a call from our sales rep, and he goes, “Hey Brian. Yeah they haven’t even started on your car yet, we had some call ins and they’re just busy so you’ll have to come back another day.” “Excuse me?” I replied. “You told me it would be ready by 10:30, to take the day off work, and now you’re trying to tell me it’s not even been touched when you said it was being pulled in to be worked on yesterday afternoon? I can’t take another day off work, what are we supposed to do?” I know he could feel the frustration in my voice. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you Brian,” he said. “This is unacceptable,” I replied, “I think my next conversation is going to be with a manager about this.” We got off the phone and my wife patted my arm. “Take it easy,” she said, “Call a manager, but remember, you need to be kind.” I nodded and took a deep breath as I tried to get connected to a manager. After being hung up on twice by other sales reps that were too busy to deal with my problem, finally I was connected to a manager named Anthony. I explained our situation from the beginning, and to my surprise he responded and said, “Brian, I am just shocked by this story and I’m going to look into it right now. This is unacceptable. We’re going to do whatever it takes to make this right, even if I have to drive the car down to you all myself. Let me to speak to the shop and I’ll call you back in 10 minutes.” I thanked him and apologized if I sounded frustrated. “I’m sorry if I’m projecting my frustrations on you sir, I know it’s not your fault and I really appreciate you helping us here.” “You’re just fine, I completely understand and you’ve been completely cordial with a difficult situation,” he replied. I waited anxiously for 10 minutes when he called me back. “Well Brian, it looks like all of this can be boiled down to some serious miscommunication on our end. Your car is ready. It was ready yesterday, but the technician took your file and made no notes or anything on it and just placed it back on the desk. The techs who came in this morning thought it was still needing serviced and put it at the end of the line as though it was just then being submitted to be worked on. I’m going to ensure it is detailed again and it will be here waiting for you as soon as you arrive.” I couldn’t believe it…and I also felt terrible for getting so frustrated. It wasn’t that they failed to do their job and I was just put off, it was that there was just some very simple miscommunication. I thanked the manager and we drove over to pick up the car (which Kylie loves btw, so mission accomplished there). I’m so thankful that I had my wife there to remind me to take a chill pill, to be kind, and to just wait and see what a manager said. Turns out once you learn the full story, things are not nearly as bad as we originally might be led to believe. 

How often in life do we ignore the teaching of James and by refusing to listen, being quick to speak and quick to anger instead of the opposite? When it comes to anger and frustration, the Proverbs have much to say about this matter. First, I am reminded of Proverbs 29:11, “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise person holds it in check.” I think many of us have acted foolishly in this way many times before in our lives. Something triggers us, and instead of approaching something with patience and understanding, we cut our fuse short and explode about it. The proverb reminds us that such actions are completely foolish, that a wise person learns how to control his anger and his frustrations. He is in control of his emotions, and not the other way around. There is another proverb that helps us to understand why giving full vent to your anger is so foolish, and it is found in chapter 18:13, “The one who gives an answer before he listens — this is foolishness and disgrace for him.” Sometimes, things can very simply be a miscommunication rather than what we originally thought was taking place. When we don’t hear the whole matter, but act rashly by jumping to conclusions in frustration, we will say and do stupid things. But if we are patient and listen, truly searching out the whole truth of a matter before we speak or act, we might find that there was nothing to be upset about in the first place. To be perfectly honest with you, I feel pretty stupid today, and a little ashamed by how frustrated I got originally. I needed that reminder from my wife to bring me back to center, because I was getting angry and fast after that first phone call. Maybe as you’re listening to this, you are thinking back on times you’ve felt this way because you acted rashly in your frustration about something too. How many times does this happen in a work situation? Or our marriages? Or even in our relationships in our local churches? Miscommunications often lead to flared tempers and foolish words exchanged back and forth. May God help us all to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, so as to stop acting like fools and to start responding with wisdom. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Friday’s, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and weekly video sessions that are uploaded on Saturdays. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above!