I ask a lot of my employees, but I also grant a lot of freedom. One rule I stress above all others: It\u2019s okay to make a mistake, but learn from it so you won\u2019t make it again. Admittedly, I\u2019m the worst offender.<\/p>\n
I park in a garage where you leave your key with the attendant. If you leave by 6:30 p.m., there\u2019s no problem. But if you come late, your key is locked up. This happened to me once so I walked home, actually enjoying the hour-long journey. \u201cWon\u2019t let this happen again,\u201d I chided myself. I decided I\u2019d have a spare key made to give to the attendant.<\/p>\n
A couple of weeks later, I stopped off at a store to get the spares made. They were busy so I said I\u2019d be back shortly to pick up my keys. <\/p>\n
So, of course, I work late that day and totally forget about my keys. At 8 p.m., I\u2019m staring at my car, realizing that I not only made the same mistake again, I made a much worse one. It was Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. I would be without the car not for just one night, but for the entire three-day weekend, and the next day I was to pick up my children in Greenville. Everybody I could call was out of town. I peered through the window in the garage office and called all the phone and pager numbers of the garage employees to no avail.<\/p>\n
For 10 minutes I stood there looking at my reflection in the car window, wondering how the state ever gave a guy this stupid a license to drive. When I was tired of listening to myself, I looked heavenward. \u201cGod, I really messed up this time,\u201d I said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine You bothering to bail me out of this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
A minute later a van pulled up slowly, its passengers eyeing me closely. \u201cGreat,\u201d I thought. \u201cI hadn\u2019t considered the possibility of being robbed.\u201d The gates to the garage opened and my heart leapt :Maybe this is a garage employee. It wasn\u2019t. It was a security guard from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, escorting an employee to her car. He unlocked the garage office and got her keys out. \u201cHallelujah,\u201d I shouted. \u201cYou\u2019re my savior.\u201d I explained my story while his passenger eyed me suspiciously. \u201cThis means you can give me my keys, and my life is saved,\u201d I finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, sir. I\u2019m not authorized to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, no, you don\u2019t understand,\u201d I pleaded. \u201cIt\u2019s so simple.\u201d There was a long silence. The security guard wasn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook,\u201d I said. \u201cI used to work at the AJC. I\u2019m still in the newspaper business and I own my own company. Here\u2019s my business card, my driver\u2019s license and my insurance card. I can prove I own this car. You can rescue me, please, please, please,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
He started to get back in his van. \u201cYou\u2019re the answer to a prayer,\u201d I begged. \u201cNot two minutes ago I told God how stupid I was and asked if there was any way He could bail me out. Then you pull up. You see, it\u2019s meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took a deep breath, looked at the employee he dropped off as if to seek guidance. \u201cI won\u2019t tell anyone,\u201d she said. As the guard went back in the office to get my keys, I turned to her and shook my head. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I got this lucky,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus is looking after you tonight, son,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t walked home since.<\/p>\n\n\n