Out Damn Spot

As a summer intern, I was helping to color some boards for a big presentation for the biggest project RLPS had ever had to that point. The team was leaving for the airport in the next several minutes, so you can imagine the flurry of activity. In my haste to get the boards done, I was refilling a pen with ink too close to one of the boards that was nearly completed. I squeezed a little too hard on the refill bottle and a drop of ink rolled down the barrel of the pen and splattered on the top right hand corner of the nearly completed board.

My heart felt like it was stuck in my throat. As my mind fast forwarded to the moments ahead, I saw my self re-coloring the board while the partners stood around me in circle yelling obscenities at me. To my complete surprise, though, the partner I was working with tore off a piece of White Out tape and covered up the stain in one fluid motion. After continuing to apologize, Craig assured me no one would ever notice.

Over the next fifteen-plus years, I’ve learned you are not measured by the mistakes that you make, but rather on the way you handle the situations that result from your mistakes. When the trip to Florida was done, no one came back complaining about the spot of ink on that one presentation board.