Bits of Silver

Have you ever had a chuckle when something you said was taken differently then you intended?

I can think of two instances when what I said and what happened just didn't come close.  Once I was playing a game of cards with my son and his friend from school.  I knew the friend had not played this game before, but what I didn't realize was that he had never played cards at all.  I was telling the young man that when he got his hand correct he was to put down the cards that were required and "throw the rest away".  In a few minutes time the turn had come around to him when suddenly he put down a straight and literally threw the rest of his hands into the air. It was then  I realized he had taken my mention of "throwing away" the rest quite seriously, not knowing  card 'lingo'.   I had a really good chuckle.

The next time it involved a girlfriend who called me to ask a question.  We live in North Carolina, where it is really hard to find some food items I like from the Northeast. It seems she was traveling to Maryland and she knew I loved, loved, loved Mallomars so she wanted to know if I would like some.   Sure I said, please bring me home 'a few'.  Well, my idea of a few was two, maybe three boxes at most.  What happened was entirely different.  My friend Chris bought the who shelf out- 13 boxes in all.  If you know anything about Mallomars, one is,  they don't come cheap. It cost me almost $50, and second, I probably gained at least four pounds in the next two months as I tried to eat every last one.  Next time I'll be more specific!

Remember, when you assume the person knows what you refer to,  that probably isn't the case! In business this could have a grave consequence. Always be specific when explaining your intentions.

Have you had anything funny like that happen to you? I would love to hear about it.