Blog for June 3rd, 2024
The Faux Pas
It was the third of June, another sleepy delta dusty day. Sorry, I just had to say that! Lol. We pay homage to that song every year on June 3rd.
Faux Pas: noun, a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct: An embarrassing social blunder.
With that out of the way, I want to tell on myself, about a Faux Pas I did Saturday night. I had told a lady in our area I would bring her a birthday cake to the meeting that night to celebrate her two years clean. I woke up that morning and baked the cake. Later in the day I texted her and told her I had made it and was she still going to the meeting?
I didn’t get an answer for quite some time. I was very busy that day and so later I texted “hello”? I got a reply finally, saying that the phone she was using was cracked and she had her son’s headphones and blah blah. I asked straight out, “are you going to the meeting?” the reply was no. I was like, “wow! Thanks for letting me know, it was almost time for the meeting, and I had to feed my husband and a sponsee who had been helping us with a mess in our kitchen with the pipes.
Anyway, long story short, I was too late to go due to getting us food and since she wasn’t going, I didn’t hurry and so I didn’t go. Turns out, she did go, and I was like “what? Why did she tell me she wasn’t?” I texted her later and said, “why did you tell me you weren’t going and then went?” The next morning I had a text “I think you are messaging the wrong person.” Sure enough, I was. Boy oh boy did I feel bad, really bad.
I went and found her the next day and took her the cake and the gifts I had for her. She was happy to get it all and said to me, “I was just worried about you, because you always do what you say you will”. Wow! On one hand that’s a compliment, on the other, it made me feel worse. She had faith in me, even when I was thinking bad of her. All this because of my faux pas with the texting. I didn’t have their names on the numbers, and they had both recently texted me. What a mess.
I think the lesson here is first, slow down and double check a text. Which I do try to do, but, this one got away from me. And two, don’t assume that they are being disrespectful or rude, there could be a very good reason why a person is doing or not doing something you expect.
The thing is, the NA program has taught me to promptly make my amends and admit my faults. I’ve worked the steps repeatedly until they are ingrained in me, and I automatically know what to do. When I am wrong and it’s so blatantly obvious, I must make amends, I must live in my own skin and be comfortable within myself. I have developed a conscience. So, when I make a mistake, a faux pas, I must admit it- promptly. I don’t like to do it, so I try not to have to make amends very often, if ever really. But if I need to, I do it.
Question of the Week: How’s your ninth step going?
