my 300 dollar cup of coffee

…tasted just like any other cup of coffee. On any other day. Yet it felt both far more stressful and more peaceful than any other.

How can that be?

I pulled into the parking lot and my car gave a kiss to the car in front of me.

Have you ever been on a train or bus, when it hits a bump, or comes to a quick stop, or sudden, lurching start? And you gently bump into the person next to you. With a little blush and half-smile, you look at that person and mutter something like, “oops. Sorry.” And you go on with your day.

Well, that’s what my car did today as I steered it into the coffee shop parking lot. But the woman sitting in the car in front of me, wasn’t so quick to forgive my car’s blunder.

When I saw the crack in her hard plastic bumper (what are they thinking anyway? Isn’t the whole idea of a “bumper” that you should be able to gently bump it like that, and it’ll rebound???) Anyway, I bumped it and cracked the hard plastic.

As I exercised my right as a female and called all the important men in my life: husband, father, old boyfriend who has bought, built and sold multiple car-related businesses – none of whom was available. Only then did I rest on my own savvy, wisdom and negotiating skills. I wrote her a $300 personal check and off she went.

Here's the deal: when you own a business and/or are responsible for sales in your company, time is money. I simply didn't have time to figure out if $300 was a good deal or a bad deal. God bless here, anyway: I offered $250, she said $300 and I said, "Fine."

Off to more important things...