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<\/p>\nTim is outraged when a flight attendant tries to convince him to swap his first-class seat with that of an elderly lady in economy class who\u2019s feeling sick. However, his rude reaction returns to haunt him when he next sees her.<\/p>\n
Tim tapped out an email on his laptop and clicked \u2018send\u2019 with far more force than was necessary. He reached for the soda the flight attendant had brought him and downed it in one gulp.<\/p>\n
Tim surveyed the comforts available to him in the airplane\u2019s first-class section for a moment. Finally, his boss appreciated his work enough to let him travel with the luxury he deserved.<\/p>\n
However, this privilege might be stripped away if his latest negotiation efforts failed. Tim\u2019s focus returned to his laptop. He typed out another message to a different stakeholder this time and sent that too.<\/p>\n
A reply to Tim\u2019s first email had just appeared in his inbox when a flight attendant appeared at his elbow. An older woman trailed in her wake.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me, sir,\u201d the flight attendant said. \u201cThis lady has fallen ill, so we\u2019d like to upgrade her to first class for the remainder of the flight. Would you be so kind as to trade seats with her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Tim snapped. \u201cHow dare you ask me such a question? Can\u2019t you see I\u2019m working here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assure you that you can continue to enjoy our inflight wifi in economy, sir.\u201d The flight attendant smiled at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what about elbow and lap space for my laptop? I can\u2019t continue working in economy, and you know it. Why are you asking me anyway? What about everyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n
The older lady groaned and leaned against Tim\u2019s headrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet away, you awful, old woman!\u201d Tim raised his hand to shove her away but then thought better of it. \u201cI don\u2019t want your germs all over my seat. Go back to economy where you belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man across the aisle from Tim rose and offered the lady his elbow.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe can take my seat,\u201d the man said. He then glared at Tim. \u201cUnlike some people, I know what it means to respect my elders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever.\u201d Tim turned back to his laptop. \u201cNow if you all don\u2019t mind, I have work to get on with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim typed out emails for the remaining hour of the flight and took a call with one of the business partners. His nerves were frayed. He needed to pull off this deal and couldn\u2019t understand why their company\u2019s partners were so difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy can\u2019t they see how this will benefit them?\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n
When his flight landed in Minneapolis, Tim was shocked to see his boss, Carl, waiting. Had one of the partners contacted his boss directly to complain about the negotiations? A rush of panic set Tim\u2019s heart racing. Surely Carl hadn\u2019t come all this way to fire him?<\/p>\n
Tim was shuffling toward Carl when he saw the man rush forward to hug the sick, older lady from the flight. Tim stopped dead when he heard Carl calling her mom.<\/p>\n
Tim considered backing away and making a dash for the parking lot. After all, Carl was here for his mom, not because of Tim\u2019s failures. As he turned to leave, Carl made eye contact and waved to Tim.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTim, come over here. I\u2019d like you to meet my mother, Amanda.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim edged closer. He started to smile, but Amanda was giving him a stern look.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t feel well on the flight, Carl\u2026\u201d Amanda said.<\/p>\n
Tim\u2019s breath caught in his throat. He was about to be exposed for being rude and cruel to his boss\u2019s mother!<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026and I don\u2019t particularly feel like meeting anyone right now,\u201d Amanda continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d Carl offered Amanda his arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get you home. Tim, I\u2019ll see you in the morning for a debrief on the negotiations, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, I\u2019ll be there.\u201d Carl smiled, but inside, he was quaking with nerves. Amanda might not have said anything now, but he was sure she\u2019d tell Carl everything on the way to her home.<\/p>\n
Tim was still a bundle of nerves when he arrived at the office the following day. He rehearsed what he\u2019d say to Carl about his behavior on the plane a thousand times as he waited to be summoned to his boss\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
However, the summons never came. Tim went home and threw a meal into the microwave. He\u2019d felt queasy at the thought of eating during lunch, and now he was starving. As he sat down, he received a phone call from Carl.<\/p>\n
\u201cTim, hi. Sorry to call after hours, but I want to touch base with you on the negotiations. I haven\u2019t gotten any contracts on my desk, so I take it there are issues to iron out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. Maloney dislikes the new supplier, and Hart has concerns about the location of the additional warehouse.\u201d Tim sighed. He was so relieved Carl wasn\u2019t calling about his mom that these problems seemed minor by comparison.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re stubborn about it too,\u201d he continued. \u201cI outlined how the changes are necessary for our image and the long-term profit increase we forecast, but they need more convincing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll get them onboard. I\u2019m going to call in an expert to help you proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim was very curious about who this expert might be. He hurried to Carl\u2019s office when he was called the next day and was astonished to see his mother there.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remember my mother, Amanda?\u201d Carl said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the expert I mentioned last night. Although she\u2019s retired now, my mother actually built this company from the ground up. She\u2019s an excellent negotiator, and has agreed to help you with our current situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to working with you,\u201d Tim said.<\/p>\n
Amanda looked him up and down and arched her eyebrows. \u201cYes, I\u2019m sure you do, Tim.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that moment, Tim realized why Amanda hadn\u2019t told Carl about his behavior on the plane and why she\u2019d volunteered to help him. She intended to punish him herself for the way he\u2019d acted. Maybe she even wanted to sabotage him!<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Amanda accompanied Tim to his office directly after the meeting. They walked in silence, which seemed ominous to Tim. When he pulled a chair for her to use while they worked, she accepted it with a demure thanks.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get to work,\u201d Amanda said when Tim offered her a drink. \u201cI\u2019d like to start by going over your presentation. It\u2019s far too easy to slip into sloppy habits when presenting new plans to partners with whom you have an existing relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim had put hours of work into his presentation, but he pulled up the file without objections. Amanda watched it without making any comments except for the occasional nod or hum.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, tell me their initial reaction to all of this,\u201d Amanda said.<\/p>\n
Tim began to outline Hart and Maloney\u2019s complaints, but Amanda interrupted him with questions about their postures and body language. Tim instantly felt inept. He hadn\u2019t noted all the details she insisted were important!<\/p>\n
Tim\u2019s second day of working with Amanda was much the same. She asked questions about his correspondence with their business partners since the negotiations and nitpicked on details he\u2019d never thought to notice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s as I suspected,\u201d Amanda said as she left.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou relied so heavily on your existing relationship with Maloney and Hart that you got sloppy. You ignored the clues that would\u2019ve allowed you to address their concerns before they raised them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim stared at her in shock. How dare she call his work sloppy? His suspicions were correct: she did plan to sabotage him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we can still salvage the situation,\u201d Amanda continued. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I have in mind when I see you tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d Tim replied. \u201cI\u2019m eager to see what you come up with. You are an expert, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda gave him an odd look. She seemed about to say something but left without another word.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is crazy,\u201d Tim said when Amanda told him her plan the next day. \u201cIt will never convince them, and worse than that, they\u2019ll think we\u2019re trying to butter them up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTim, sometimes in business, people expect a little buttering up.\u201d She leaned forward in her seat and fixed him with a stern stare. \u201cYou would do well to keep that in mind, especially when dealing with people like Hart and Maloney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to mean?\u201d Tim snapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means that you need to work on your people skills. Hart is a family man, and visits to the new warehouse will add to his commute time. Maloney, on the other hand, is even more concerned with image and carbon footprint than we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda sat back and folded her hands in her lap. \u201cThe solution is simple, Tim. Hart needs to see that this new development won\u2019t cut into his family time, while Maloney needs proof that our supplier follows best practices. The incentives I suggested are to show that we care about our business relationship and understand their concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
im didn\u2019t like Amanda\u2019s plan. He was still certain she was out to get him for how he treated her on the plane but had no way to counter it. Unless he told Carl everything and risked getting fired or demoted, his only choice was to follow through.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least I can truthfully say this whole disaster was her idea when it blows up in our faces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim worked on the document outlining Amanda\u2019s incentive plan.<\/p>\n
To Tim\u2019s shock, both partners had replied positively by the end of the day. They wanted to discuss the new plan in more depth. Tim suggested they have a video conference later that week.<\/p>\n
When he told Amanda the news, she smiled at him for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see? I am an expert, after all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That Friday, Tim convinced Hart and Maloney to commit to the plan Amanda had proposed. He promised to get amended contracts to them by Monday and went out that night to celebrate.<\/p>\n
While Tim sat at his favorite bar, he kept thinking about how he\u2019d misjudged Amanda and how terrible he\u2019d been to her on the plane. She hadn\u2019t told Carl what had happened either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe her a huge apology,\u201d Tim decided.<\/p>\n
That Monday, Tim bought a massive bunch of flowers and took them straight to the office Amanda was using. The moment she invited him in, he started apologizing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so rude to you on the plane, and you were kind enough to help me in spite of my bad behavior. I don\u2019t understand why you didn\u2019t use this opportunity to get revenge on me, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He held out the bouquet to Amanda, but she didn\u2019t respond as he\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cRevenge?\u201d Amanda scoffed. \u201cTim, I\u2019ve lived long enough to learn that spite and petty meanness does nothing but poison the one who uses them.\u201d<\/p>\n
She took the flowers and smelled them.<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides, I already knew who you were on the plane. I may be retired, but I keep up with what\u2019s going on in this business. When you were so rude and insistent about working, I assumed your negotiations went poorly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew who I was all along?\u201d Tim asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just said so. I knew you were due to negotiate a new business proposition too. As Carl mentioned, I\u2019m accustomed to dealing with partners and very familiar with all the complexities of those relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I could\u2019ve told Carl about your behavior, but that wouldn\u2019t have helped.\u201d Amanda shrugged. \u201cI\u2019m sure he vets his employees well enough to ensure he isn\u2019t payrolling people who are habitually rude, and I saw no point in making you suffer for your reactions when you were clearly stressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/globalreport20.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/330842761_579171417466049_7751748147004918423_n.png\")
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