Recently, Kev and I set off in his car, headed for a party held by some of our lovely clients who were celebrating the opening of their swanky new design studio.
We’d been looking forward to this for ages!
About halfway into our journey, we started chatting about cars because mine was in the garage at the time being fixed, and Kev said, “So when are you thinking of getting a new car? A year’s time? Two years? Five…?”
“I reckon maybe a couple of years will be fine. My car’s pretty low mileage, I love it, and we seem to be managing fine with things how they are. To be honest, I feel like I’ve got way bigger priorities at the moment…”
And with that, I saw Kev look down at the dashboard.
“What’s up?” I said, feeling that we’d slowed down.
“We’ve gone into limp mode…” said Kev, looking confused.
And with that, our plans changed in an instant, and life suddenly became less about looking forward to a great party, and more about calling the AA and getting to safety.
It’s like the bloody car could hear us, and was punishing us!
It was, like, “How dare you take us cars for granted, bitches! My best mate’s in the garage and you’re talking about selling her! Just see what happens when I decide to play up! I’ll teach you for not being grateful for us!”
Unfortunately for the car, it had the opposite effect, and rather than make us appreciate it more, it just made us think about chopping both cars in instead of just mine.
You know, we can all be a bit like that. If we feel unappreciated, we start playing up and being obnoxious.
Does that make us more lovable? You do the math…
Now, I’m not saying you should be a pushover, either, and keep taking a poor attitude towards us, but sulking is rarely a good way to improve your relationships with others.
Looking for ways to improve our own happiness and self esteem is the best way, because when we’re happy in our own skins, we generally get better reactions from others.