Women are creatures of habit. We like our routines and cherish the small things in life. The smallest, thoughtful acts can make a dramatic impact and the small neglected ones can make US dramatic. When is it appropriate to speak out? These types of questions come up a lot in life and in an industry like Public Relations, things tend to get a little dramatic (of course, not at Pretzel). Take this scenario.
You live a busy life. You barely have time to complete a thought, let alone free time for yourself. All you want to do is wake up in the morning, eat a good breakfast, work out, shower, make it to work, have a productive day, come home, have dinner, watch a movie with a glass of wine, and do it all again tomorrow. What happens when a small mishap occurs and this routine is disrupted?
I heard a story the other day that made me laugh and got my creative juices flowing. A friend had the motivation and drive to go to the gym before work. She wanted to get in a quick work out to start her day off in the right direction. Unfortunately, she had to go straight to work, but is accustomed to this routine and brought along the appropriate materials: gym clothes, work clothes, shampoo, conditioner, razor, and of course body wash. Mind you, us girls love to dabble in new stocks of interesting products, but when duty calls, we bring our own.
She had an amazing work out and was feeling great, so it was time to hit the shower. She entered the locker room and was pleased to see that one out of the four showers was available. As she stepped into the stark white stall, turned on the hot water, she set her products out for use: shampoo, condition, and body wash. She jumped in for a quick rinse and immediately realized she had forgotten her razor in her bag. Having brought a skirt to wear to work that day, she was not the slightest bit interested in exposing her office to such disarray especially with her "on the market" dating status. She coyly stepped out, grabbed the goods from her locker in the adjacent room (towel on of course) and rushed back to resume her wash. After shampooing and thoroughly conditioning, she moved on to the next stage of cleanliness-the body scrub. In complete surprise, she realized that it was not there. Let me remind you of my previous remarks of a woman's need for routine and since this had been a daily ritual for the past three months, she knew she had had it-and had brought it in the shower with her. To her astoundment, it was a case of "I like what you have better, so now it's mine" circa failed lesson on sharingg in kindergarden. Seeing as she didn't see anyone come in or out of the bathroom area, she presumed one of the women in one of the three other showers had taken it. Rule #1: Don't mess with a girl's body wash. The fact of the matter is that she would have definitely been inclined to share had the opportunity been presented. Going into another shower and taking what clearly does not belong to the gym for your own use is just weird. While I can understand that yes, body wash over soap IS that important, is it really necessary to jack the bottle from your fellow gym pal?
This is when I thought to pose this question: When is it appropriate to speak up? Although I would loved to have been a fly on the wall during her outburst interrogations-"Did someone take my Bath & Body Works Creamy Body Wash in Exotic Coconut?" sadly, but understandably, she overzealously finished up her shower in silence, exited the gym and proceeded about her day. Meanwhile, some free-loader is smelling awfully sweet.
This is when being prepared can bite. Take tomorrow off and play the day by the seat of your pants. A break from your routine could lead you down a road to Robert Frost. In PR, we often can't sweat the small stuff and most regularly don't know where the day is going to take us. Having a routine and being prepared is definitely key and without it, failure is inevitable. Sometimes, however we have to take a step back, breath in deeply and say, hey-at least we know we we weren't the soap high-jacker in this situation.
