My Problem: A Bag of Left-Footed Socks
Shopping is exhilarating. I go once or twice a decade at least.
Thoughts of buying new jeans feel as delightful as an angry skunk encounter. I’m still recovering from my bi-decade trip to the outlets in the Poconos. It was a stretch, but I bought a bag of ASICS low cut running socks. I don’t run, but running socks make me feel fit.
The Problem:
It took about four weeks for life to feel normal after our shopping safari. Then I noticed an “L” inside one sock. The other sock had an “L” too!
“They got mismatched in the laundry,” I thought. Come to find out, I bought a bag of left-footed socks. Houston, we have a problem!
This made me think of the Yasso Bar incident.
I’m partial to vanilla chocolate crunch Yasso Greek Yogurt Bars. Crunchie goodness combined with frozen creamy delight tantalize the tastebuds. A while back I noticed we were getting gypped on the crunchy count. I decided to complain.
Gypped:
My complaint read…
Dear Yasso,
“We are fans of Yasso bars, especially the dipped vanilla chocolate crunch. The last three boxes have not been up to your previous standard of crunchiness.” I went on, “We plan to continue purchasing Yasso bars but thought you should know of this inconsistency.”
I received a lovely reply within a couple hours. They sent me coupons to replace the disappointing bars (I endured eating the defective bars). and some additional $1.00 off coupons. That’s why I thought I’d complain to ASICS. Who knows, maybe they’ll send me a bag of running booties marked “R” and double my value!
About this time, it hit me. The “L” was for LARGE.
Take away:
Stay positive. Confirm the problem before fixing it.
Have you ever responded to a problem that didn’t exist?
PS – Yasso bars are great. Some have extra crunchies. And I love my ASICS running socks.
Dig deeper:
How to Reinvent Your Relationship with Problems and Opportunities
Not All Problems are Problems – 5 Real Problems for Leaders
That’s FUNNY!
Thanks Eva.
“ Shopping is exhilarating. I go once or twice a decade at least.”
#funny #truth
I’m curious how your shopping for necessities, gifts, and home goods gets done in the other 8 or 9 years each decade. Or is this funny truth more about in person vs. online shopping?
Hi Joe. Good seeing you. It might only be once a decade, but I didn’t want to seem extreme, so I loosened it up to twice. 🙂
Great Post Dan – ha ha
Thanks Dave.
No, it’s not me. It’s the rest of the world. I’m just identifying the problems. All the time.
Brilliant, Joshua. I couldn’t have said it better.
So true! Or sometimes the “thing” may not be “the thing.” Patience usually leads to revelation.
Thanks Jordan. Love your sentence, “Patience leads to revelation.”
I read your articles regularly, and I learn a lot as a leader. But as a leader who strives for diversity, equity, and inclusion in my work, I wanted to share a little information for you that you may not know.
“Gypped” is an extremely offensive word to the Roma people. Please be aware of this and think about refraining from using it in the future. That word is a very negative stereotype about the gypsy people. Please research this term. I copied one article as a reference below for you. When we know better, we should do better.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/242429836/why-being-gypped-hurts-the-roma-more-than-it-hurts-you#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Oxford%20English,1914%2C%20in%20Louis%20Jackson%20%26%20C.%20R.
I’m with Kari on this one, know better do better.
Thanks Shelby. I’m glad you chimed in today.
Dan and Kari,
In the recent past, I was attending a meeting when another meeting attendee called me out on using the phrase, “my gypsy sister” when referring to my sister as a teenager; she always roamed life freely and she always seemed happy to be this free spirit. I was not aware of a negative connotation to using the word, especially in this context – to me it was definitely a term of endearment.
I did a little research as well, and the next day I talked to this person about my findings – this person thought that was pretty cool for me to share my findings with her… she felt heard.
Just wanted to share this with you Kari, sometimes it is just a descriptive, and not meant to offend. In my humble opinion, there is a difference.
Melanie,
While your use of the term “gypsy sister” is not offensive, using the term “gypped” as a synonym for short-changed, or rip off is offensive to the Roma people. This really is not an instance where the two experiences are interchangabley.
Respectfully,
Heather
Thanks Heather, I do get it. I heard Kari.
Thanks for participating today, Heather.
Thanks Melanie. I’m glad you contributed to the conversation today.
Thanks Kari. Much appreciated. Yup, know better, do better. Nicely said.
Running socks make me feel fit too!
I wear mind every day just to keep in shape. 🙂
LOL, open mouth insert foot! Surely we need to read the instructions! Love the issues we face can be so simple.
This article could not have been more perfectly timed. I was “grumping” about all the things that were wrong at work this morning & of course never thought to look in the mirror- until your article appeared in my “inbox”. Thankyou- I needed the wake up & the smile!
Good point Dan.
Q-1–Is there a problem?
Q-2–If there is a problem, who owns it?