Sometimes, we say “it’s fine” to avoid a conversation we don’t have the energy for.
I learned this the hard way during a long day of business meetings.
Earlier this week, I hired a cab for the day to get to multiple meetings. The driver greeted me warmly. The car was clean. Soft devotional music played in the background. It felt peaceful.
Then the music started getting louder.
I hesitated, but eventually asked, “Could you lower the volume, please?”
He smiled and turned it down. For a moment, everything felt fine again.
When we started, I asked, “Do you need the address for the first meeting?”
He waved it off confidently. “I know the area.”
As we got closer, he struggled with the GPS, mispronounced the address, and took a few wrong turns. We arrived, but not without some frustration on my part.
After my first meeting, I called him to pick me up.
“How far are you?” I asked.
“Five minutes,” he replied.
Five minutes turned into fifteen. When he finally arrived, I asked what happened.
“I was having tea,” he said, smiling.
I felt the irritation rise. I let it go.
After my second meeting, I called again. And again. When he finally answered, he said casually, “The network wasn’t working earlier.
I’ll be there in five to ten minutes.”
By the end of the day, I was exhausted. Fifteen hours in, I just wanted to get home.
On the ride back, he began burping loudly. I said nothing. I stared out the window and counted the minutes.
As we reached my destination, he turned to me with a wide smile.
“Everything was okay, right?”
I paused.
“It was fine,” I said.
But it wasn’t.
He wasn’t trying to do a bad job. He just didn’t know what I needed.
Avoiding the conversation felt easier in the moment.
It wasn’t.