Kevin Hillier says mistakes can have a positive upside
Accountability is a buzz word in sport, so why isn’t it applied to everyday life? We are all responsible for our actions and we should be held accountable for them. We shouldn’t be allowed to trot out half-baked, glaringly obvious, flimsy excuses and get away with it.
I jumped into the wrong lane in the traffic the other day and cut a car off. Thankfully, no damage was done. When I pulled up beside the car at the next set of lights, I rolled the passenger window down and said sorry. I half expected the young man driving to give me a mouthful. Instead he said thanks and smiled.
I made a mistake, but a bigger mistake would have been to ignore him and stare straight ahead. People are moved when someone does admit to being wrong. It doesn’t kill you, and from my point of view, you earn a bit of respect.
I arrived for a recent business meeting and the person I was to see said: “I thought it was tomorrow.” It wasn’t. I left and not long after he contacted me and apologised. He had put it in the wrong day in his diary – an honest mistake.
You can get caught out pretty easily these days, thanks to social media. A word of advice – don’t call in sick and then bob up on Facebook a few hours later in a photo with a beer in your hand via a friend’s post.
Almost every job has some aspects that you don’t care for or are less appealing than others – that’s just part of the way it works. No one likes to be wrong or make mistakes – but be man or woman enough to admit it when you do.
Good riddance to the moth
I am not a big fan of most of the art works that adorn our city. The seeds of whatever they are as you come into Hoppers Crossing have never excited me. I would rather some plants and small trees – some natural colour.
As for the proposed giant moth on the western interchange of the Princes Freeway – well done to the councillors for knocking that back. Not only was it stupid-looking and irrelevant, it was going to cost $583,000. More than $100,000 was already spent on developing the project – totally wasteful. ■
If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au
