Follow the Leader

Is it dangerous to have someone "in charge" who doesn't know what is going on?

Tonight I planned a little dinner for my fellow youth ministers. The plan was simple; we were to meet at Boone Tavern at 8pm for fellowship, dinner, and a touch of YM training.

Attempting to be the punctual leader, I show up 15 minutes early. Being proud of my "lead-by-example" early arrival, I strut up to the hostesses and announce, "My name is Doug Royal. I reserved a table for 8pm."

"We don't take reservations," replied the hostess. Since I was already over confident (I had also just finished five glasses of soda at birthday party with some friends) I smugly assumed that I was dealing with an inexperienced hostess who obviously didn't know everything about her restaurant. So I though if I change the wording and maybe speak a little louder, she would see that she is obviously wrong. "I reserved a room in the back for a party of 10."

The other hostess chimed in with, "We don't have a room in the back." Clearly they were wrong, so I tried one more rewording.

"I called Boone Tavern on Monday, and reserved a room."

"Um, this is Flat Branch." . . . And the two of them had a well deserved laugh.

After I appologized, I asked for directions, and they tried to oblige me. They didn't know exactly where Boone Tavern was, but assured me that it was on the south side of Broadway. All I needed to do was drive around and I was sure to find it.

It was now 10 minutes until 8:00, and I was feeling rather foolish. I drove around for about 5 minutes but couldn't find Boone Tavern, so I decided to stop at another restaurant and ask for direction. Harpo's had a parking spot out front, so I swerved in and slammed on the breaks. After playing frogger with the traffic I made it in and asked directions. Apparently I had asked the manager . . . and he didn't seem very eager to give me directions to a competitor’s location. After a short hesitation he decided to give me the directions.

I arrived at Boone Tavern a mere 5 minutes late, and half of our Ministry Team was already there. I told them my story, they laughed and forgave me. We had a great meal, and I finished another 5 glasses of soda . . . so now it’s midnight and I can’t sleep.

The moral of this story is: If you're going to be late, forgiveness will come easily if you give everybody a chance to laugh at the "leader."