I try as much as possible not to miss work.

However, sometimes, when a terrible bout of the coughs/flu sends you reeling and you realize how weak you’ve become, you can’t help but take the afternoon off work.

And when you’re a busy woman like I am, disaster strikes.

Last afternoon, not only did I miss an important interview, I’ve also managed to piss off one of Taiwan’s largest bigwigs. “We will never do business with you or your clients again!” the company screamed.

Great. Here I am weak and dying, and this company cuts off our good relationship. 🙁

Long story short, because I took the afternoon off, I missed a cancellation email from a client, which resulted in the company waiting for a long time for a conference call that wasn’t going to happen. Given that they’ve changed their schedules to accommodate our client’s request, they were obviously not pleased.

Worrying about it would not help. I was away from the office and useless for the afternoon. It’s also of no use to blame my client, myself or my contact. Sometimes, these shitty things happen, and all you can do is try to resolve it without much damage.

We are human after all, and obviously, I screwed up and I have to take responsibility. Regardless on whoever fault it may be, I have to step up and accept the blame.

There’s nothing worse than someone who doesn’t own up to the mistake. I know how that feels. Sure, I was sick and weak, but who cares? As the main coordinator, it was my job that both parties are on the same page, and I failed to do that.

This morning, I read this article on what to do when you screw up. It’s great, you should read it. It said that the words, “I’m sorry” can be most rewarding and I agree. Just as an intro, it wrote:

I was a mere child when the classic tear gusher Love Story hit theaters in 1970, but I wept along with the adult audience as the dying Ali MacGraw told the darling Ryan O’Neal, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Two years later, I saw another movie, What’s Up, Doc?, in which Barbra Streisand’s character repeated the very same line to the very same actor. This time, however, O’Neal had an answer. “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard,” he said.

True that — when you screw up, say sorry darnit!

Apologizing won’t erase the debacle that was yesterday. It won’t take away the anger or the fact that you probably screwed up a good working relationship, but that’s the best solution. You cannot erase the past, nor can you change it.

Instead, the best route is to be sincerely sorry, and to try to make amends… in addition to Godiva chocolates and a huge bouquet of flowers.

So this morning, I went to my contact’s office to personally say sorry and receive the harsh beating. I had chocolates and a sincere note of apology. In a way, it’s scary as you have no clue what sort of trashing you’ll be getting, but hey, you f*cked up. Be responsible for that.

The result?

I’m very fortunate. From my contact, he wrote:

Thank you for your message. This kind of situation happens sometime because we are all human. It’s OK we can find some other time slot. Take care!

Extremely lucky indeed to be given a second chance. However, I am truly sorry and will be careful to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Moving on… onto the next crazy experience! Seriously, this has really been a bad week, but heck, life doesn’t stop because you have a bad week. The best way to do is to just deal with it.

Hope everybody’s doing well, and do take care of your health!