08-24-22 I’m not Oprah
Today was seriously a day of reverse Oprahness. I spent the day thinking You Take That Back, and You Take That Back and You Take That Back! Earlier this week the president of one of the boards I am on had to call me to address the fact that volunteers on Saturday night said negative things about me. I tried not to be defensive but I honestly couldn’t remember anything I had said or done that warranted this. This morning I went to see one of the women who had complained and calmly asked if I had done something to offend her. She said I told her she shouldn’t have tie-dyed her volunteer shirt and that they had screwed up the fencing placement and I had to get someone else to help me fix it. I replied that I hadn’t said either of those things and her immediate response was “well you didn’t use those words but that’s how we took it”. Honestly I was stunned. I was able to talk through it with her and I think the truth was understood. I did apologize if her feelings were hurt and I believe we are good going forward. I find it horrifying though how quickly someone can put words in your mouth. The thing is, I know when I am edging on or full on bitch mode and I know for a fact that I own my shit when that happens. It is disappointing that someone needed to spread this story without talking to me. To be clear I said that I liked her shirt but maybe she should have asked as it is our uniform. She laughed and said to her husband, see, I told you I probably should have asked. I think it is beautiful and would love them all to be that way but the moment has passed. I shouldn’t have said anything at all. I did explain to her today that I am used to telling the crew at VIMF not to modify their shirts as people were cutting them up etc and it didn’t look very professional. It was instinctual. As to the other issue, I had started with ‘I really dropped the ball as site director tonight by not noticing how the fence was placed and didn’t want to bother you so I just got other help and fixed the gap” They asked me to show them the change for next week and I thought we were fine. Sigh. I was asked by the pres to be careful how I deal with volunteers and reminded him I am also a volunteer and just trying to do my best on a very busy night. I will be more careful going forward. I don’t want to be the reason we lose our great volunteer crew.
I still think that a large part of my problem is my spectrum like inability to play social games. I say something and it is all I mean. If I meant something else or more, I would say that, or not say anything at all. There is a reason I often don’t play well with others…
I was able to finally get access to CRA for the society though and it has been a long time coming. I spent 49 minutes talking to an agent. After 40 of them he finally said once again, you have to have the owner call in and I said, I am the owner! He didn’t understand about societies. He finally looked up the account to discover that as a Director I am on the system and authorized. I can’t believe it has taken well over a year of trying on the phone, by mail, and online but it is now solved and I can file the necessary returns so they will release our GST rebates. Every bit helps for a non-profit. Time well spent in the end. It was hard not to get mad at the agent though as I tried to give him the Business Number right off the bat to see what he could do. Ah well, probably new, like many employees out there, just following the script.
I got some tough files off my desk, two to finish before month’s end, yay.
I came home and made a delicious dinner which was interrupted by an unhappy Airbnb potential guest. She had reached out last night asking to stay Friday and Saturday night but not leave until 8 pm on Sunday. I told her I had a guest Sunday night so would need 11 am check out to do housekeeping. I pre-approved her which allows time for her to respond but doesn’t prevent me from taking other bookings. Some time after 3 today I got a request from a lady for Saturday night. I checked the other request and it said not possible so I figured she declined. I accepted the new booking. 3 hours later I got a message from the 1st person saying they tried to book and couldn’t. I explained what had happened, apologized profusely and offered her still to stay Friday night if she wanted. Things quickly escalated as she wanted me to cancel on the other person. I told her I couldn’t as I would risk losing my superhost status and potential fines. She then asked about next weekend as she wanted to come from Calgary to meet her boyfriend from the States. I told her I had someone Friday night but with the long weekend she could have Saturday and Sunday night. It would not be best for me as it is PeakFest but I did feel bad that it had happened this way. Then she threatened me so I immediately called the superhost helpline and they were able to see the whole conversation and tell me how to block her. I am loathe to take any more bookings as they could request under his name or a friends. I do not want them here.
The up side was a lovely message from the family that was here this past weekend. He said everything was perfect and the only thing missing was a Triumph parked out front. So true.
Tracey borrowed my lawnmower and when she brought it back, she noticed two wasp nests which I had to deal with immediately!
And now I am sitting watching my shows as I await a college student arriving from Mexico. He needed a place for two nights until he can get into his accommodation. Unfortunately his flight arrives after midnight but his is the type of thing I like to be here for. I will just have to sleep fast after getting him checked in.
I received a surprise gift from Quickbooks in the mail! I think it was for recertifying with them and having so many clients on their software. Nice touch!
Fuck me… sorry for the language. It’s 1:15 am and guest didn’t have full address apparently so taxi left him at Tim Hortons. He didn’t message me, I finally asked when he would be here. This day is karmicly bad
triumphgal 