My boat’s getting rocked! Day 2

The day dawned beautifully as it had been declared a holiday and we were going out on an office treat, a lunch and a movie, to celebrate a successful launch. True to the morning’s promise, the day was beautiful.

As I was chatting with my friends late in the evening, I had a call from one of my neighbors. I had left a tap open and now water was flowing out from under my door and onto the stairway and therefore, they had had to shut off water supply to the entire block! I was mortified. I remembered that when I had left home, there had been no water supply, so I might have left a tap open, inadvertently. I rushed back home and apologized to my neighbors for the inconvenience caused. They were all kind in their response. Though I was smiling on the outside, I was mentally simply kicking myself. I felt so stupid. After a year of being the ideal resident, I felt so foolish. But again, all had not been lost. There were small mercies here too!

- Thank goodness the water supply was restored only late afternoon and therefore, the call had come through only in the evening. (My day might have been ruined.)
- I spoke to neighbors who I had never seen before. And now I have new faces to smile at.
- The water had not destroyed anything at home.
- None of my neighbors were rude or blamed me.

I arrived at a conclusion: No matter how perfect and proper I try to be, accidents do happen. And it was an accident. I was touched when an elderly neighbor gently put her arm on my shoulder and said, “That’s okay. We all forget at times.” Thank you ma’am. You have no idea what those words meant to me that day.