If there’s one other thing in life that’s a certainty other than death and taxes, it’s saying something to someone and then regretting it. We’ve all done it. Even the non-verbal version – when your wife comes home and asks if you like her new shoes and you hesitate for a billionth of a second…
Generally speaking, the times when you’re at your grumpiest are likely to be on the tube in the morning (and on the way home), when your kids are driving you insane or when it’s taking the barman FAR too long to get to you and if there’s ever a reason to engage brain before opening gob, this is the perfect example…
Earlier this year, two people were on the tube. One was called Matt Buckland, the Head of Talent at a private equity firm on his way to work and the other guy remained nameless but for the purposes of this article, we’ll call him ‘Dave’. ‘Dave’ was on his way to an interview. As the tube pulled into Monument station Matt moved over to let a woman off the train but ‘Dave’ thought Matt was deliberately standing in the way of everyone else. ‘Dave’ pushed Matt out of the way, told him to ‘f*** himself’ and got off the train.
Generally speaking, the times when you’re at your grumpiest are likely to be on the tube in the morning (and on the way home), when your kids are driving you insane or when it’s taking the barman FAR too long to get to you and if there’s ever a reason to engage brain before opening gob, this is the perfect example…
Earlier this year, two people were on the tube. One was called Matt Buckland, the Head of Talent at a private equity firm on his way to work and the other guy remained nameless but for the purposes of this article, we’ll call him ‘Dave’. ‘Dave’ was on his way to an interview. As the tube pulled into Monument station Matt moved over to let a woman off the train but ‘Dave’ thought Matt was deliberately standing in the way of everyone else. ‘Dave’ pushed Matt out of the way, told him to ‘f*** himself’ and got off the train.
Matt went to his office and started his day’s work, preparing to interview a set of candidates for roles at his firm. In a bizarre, unfortunate coincidence, who shows up for an interview with Matt? You guessed it. ‘Dave’.
At first, ‘Dave’ didn’t recognise Matt but Matt asked him a few questions about his journey into town to try and jog his memory. As ‘Dave’ realised who he was sitting in front of, he, according to Matt on Twitter ‘…realised, laughed about it awkwardly and got on with the interview’.
Fair play to Matt, presumably he could have made ‘Dave’s’ life a misery for half an hour but he remained professional and said that the really ‘unfortunate incident’ could have happened to anyone and as a recruiter, he values people with emotions.
As it turns out, ‘Dave’ didn’t get the job. ‘He wasn’t right for the role’ Matt said.
Remember – engage brain, THEN open mouth. You just never know who you’re talking to (or swearing at).
At first, ‘Dave’ didn’t recognise Matt but Matt asked him a few questions about his journey into town to try and jog his memory. As ‘Dave’ realised who he was sitting in front of, he, according to Matt on Twitter ‘…realised, laughed about it awkwardly and got on with the interview’.
Fair play to Matt, presumably he could have made ‘Dave’s’ life a misery for half an hour but he remained professional and said that the really ‘unfortunate incident’ could have happened to anyone and as a recruiter, he values people with emotions.
As it turns out, ‘Dave’ didn’t get the job. ‘He wasn’t right for the role’ Matt said.
Remember – engage brain, THEN open mouth. You just never know who you’re talking to (or swearing at).