Flowers

A new business was opening and one of the owner’s friends wanted to send flowers for the occasion. When the flowers arrived at the new business site, the owner received them and read the card. Much to his horror, the card read, “Sorry for your loss”.

The owner became angry and called the friend to ask him why he wanted his business to fail. The friend apologized profusely and told him that the florist must have messed up the order.

Angrily, the friend called the florist to complain. After he had told the florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist said, “Sir, I'm really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry, you should imagine the position I'm in. Very soon I am probably going to get a very irate call from a funeral home where they have just received flowers with a note saying, “Congratulations on your new location.”

Moral of the story: Others' mistakes are frustrating for you to deal with, but they are significantly more challenging for the person who made the mistake in the first place.