I hate to cancel on anyone. If I do it, it’s usually for good reason and I’m honest about it. If I have to reschedule more than once, I do my best not to. Even though people are generally pretty understanding, I still try to work it out no matter how busy I am, especially if it’s a new person that I’m trying to meet up with.
Such was the case yesterday. I had met someone who works at Sesame Workshop and I have been eager to chat with him about how he got into this field, what it’s like, any advice he might have for me for breaking into that world and more. Plus, he’s just a funny and cool guy, so I wanted to get to know him better. We were scheduled to have lunch at 2:00 p.m.
I have always felt a special kinship with Jim Henson. I was so inspired when I saw his original exhibit at The Museum of the Moving Image and I love to do Muppet Mornings with my niece and nephew. It’s where I show them old Muppet episodes when we get together and they love them.
I had gotten a call from a client with an urgent, last-minute, tight turnaround project. When you’re a freelancer, these requests are not that unusual and if you can help out and potential save the day, you’ll earn some cred with them. I can’t always do them and clients understand, but I try my best to help out where I can.
I was also working on a special surprise birthday gift for someone in my family who was celebrating a milestone birthday yesterday. In case that person reads this, I’m deliberately keeping it cryptic.
I worked as hard and quickly as I could all morning so that I could meet up with the Sesame guy, but as the time approached for me to leave, I realized I wasn’t going to meet either of my deadlines by the end of the day if I met up with him.
Since this was the second time I was rescheduling with him, I decided to call and explain myself. Maybe I’m old school, but I feel like it’s the mature way to handle it. Plus, he doesn’t know me, so I wanted him to know how sincerely I meant it. I really hated to cancel. The last thing I want is for people to think that I’m a flake. I’m not.
I left him a message telling him honestly why I had to cancel and got back to my work. A little while later he texted back saying he understood and that we can find another time. No big deal.
Ultimately, I was happy that I said no to our lunch, but mostly to myself. Since I have some strict rules around certain things like not rescheduling twice, it’s hard for me to cut myself some slack when a situation like this comes up. I also know if I had gone, I may not have been as present as I would have liked and I would have been anxious to leave to get back to my work. That’s not fair to him or me, so here’s to saying “no” so everyone benefits. :)
This blog post has been brought to you by the letter “N” and the number “0” which spells N0. :)
Do you usually honor your commitments? Do you hate when people cancel on you multiple times or does it not bother you? Tell me below and if you like what you’ve read, please share and subscribe below. Thanks!