Say something nice!

I was recently told by one of my boss’s bosses, that I work in a place where I have over 400 regular “customers.” I think that there is some truth to that. As a church secretary, I have a lot of people who look to me to fix problems, schedule events, listen to their issues, offer solutions, and meet their needs in a variety of areas. These same people are the ones who scrutinize and critique my work on a regular basis.

Last week, as I was completing all of the week’s work, and preparing items for our services this morning, I made an error. It was a simple error, which had no serious consequences. But it was an error, none-the-less. You see, I put the wrong date on today’s bulletin. Now, keep in mind, that 3 other people (besides me), with college degrees also proofread the bulletin. None of us caught it. It was late Friday afternoon that I noticed the error, and unfortunately, the bulletins were already printed, folded and stuffed. Being who I am, I considered rerunning all of them…but, also being who I am, decided not to because it would have been a HUGE waste of time and resources. So, I made a mental note to remember to check the date next time, and moved along.

This morning, I was not even in the building a full five minutes when one of our deacons approached me and said, “You made a mistake. The date on the bulletin is wrong. We need to announce it from the pulpit so people know that it is actually today’s bulletin.” I replied simply by saying, “Yes, I made a mistake, but I think people will be able to figure it out.” Throughout the course of the morning, about a half dozen people or so felt the need to point out my mistake. In fact, as I was leaving the building, one of our shepherds stopped me to point it out to me, and suggested that I set my computer up to automatically change the date for me.

Why is it that people are so quick to point out the negative? Why is it that so few want to share when things are right, or when something good happens? But people have no problem at all pointing out a simple, common mistake, and some seem to feel that it is necessary to announce the error from the pulpit! Is it ever announced from the pulpit when I do something right? Encouragement and appreciation go a long, long way. Pointing out only the negatives, (especially when they are negatives with little or no consequences) only bring people down, and make them feel under appreciated.

I am thankful for the few (very few) who say “thank you” and “I appreciate you.” For those who have only negative things to say, feel free to contact me at the church building during my normal work hours.