don't start none

I usually check my blackberry before I leave the house in the morning (bad habit, I know) just in case there's an email for which I need to stop munching on my honey bunches of oats and respond right away. There's usually not, but my inbox generally gives me an idea of what the day will be like-- 3 to 5 emails, I'm on easy street, lots of blogging to be done, or a morning like today's, with 26 emails before 8:30 a.m., several of them including to-do lists for me, and I know my eyes will be glued to this screen for the next 8 hours, minus a quick thirty minutes for a cheese sandwich and carrots with hummus.

But I got a lot done. I like that I-had-a-constructive-day feeling, like I actually accomplished tasks, reached goals, and made others' lives a little easier in the process. I got a shiny new website launched today with only a couple hiccups, helped create an informational brochure for another client, and planned a week-long trip for my boss to see two clients in Ohio and one in Seattle. I also paid the bills-- very important task there.

I wasn't sure at the beginning the day would go like this. We have one client who insists on being World's Biggest Prick most of the time. Last week I sent him a bill for our services, he countered with "what services?" implying that we hadn't done anything for him. Ungrateful. Yesterday he made a snide remark about how expensive my boss's plane ticket to come see him was (our clients pay for travel), like I had some kind of magical control over airline fares. This morning he made another remark about his bill, again implying that he was paying too much for not enough. He's an enthusiasm vacuum, a good-mood sucker.

I try to chalk it up to him having a bad day (or week, or month), perhaps having financial problems, whatever. But today was too much for my boss, who immediately sent him a scathing email. He took up for me in that email too, like a big brother watching over me, as I'm the one to whom the complaints are usually sent. 

My thoughts: Don't start none, won't be none. I don't know where I first heard that phrase, but it's stuck with me, and it applies to so much in life. Really, try it out for yourself. If you don't start trouble, no trouble will come to you. Kind of like karma. Only much more fun to say.