Real life dilemma - You have double booked yourself
I have a friend who has a tendency to say yes to several events that are all set to occur at the same time. Once she realizes it, she ends up trying to attend all events and somehow manages to pull it off. I have been one of the events she had to squeeze into her busy schedule and I must admit knowing that you were just one of several stops does absolutely nothing to make you feel special.
Sometimes double booking is completely accidental and unavoidable because you have an equal desire to attend two events. In cases where both events are important, I think the involved parties would be understanding if they were told why you will be arriving late or leaving early.
My general rule is when I agree to a plan and a better plan comes along, it’s a case of “too bad” for me, unless the event is a once in a lifetime opportunity or an opportunity deemed Important with a capital I. In that case I tell the person that I will be cancelling on why I am cancelling, apologize for the inconvenience, and ask if s/he would be willing to reschedule. I really think it’s important to let the original person know why you have decided to change your plans with them, rather than having them wonder at your rudeness, or marvel that you picked a bowling tournament over their baby shower (not knowing that the tournament will raise money for a cause dear to your heart, or you will be receiving recognition at the event). People are generally understanding. I recently had to cancel plans to window shop with a friend when I discovered that the date of a birthday party for another friend had been switched and this new date was the only date that worked for everybody involved. My window shopping friend understood and all was well.
How about you? Have you ever double (triple, quadruple…) booked yourself for events? How did you manage it/them? What criteria do you use to determine how to handle the situation?
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double book, over booked, overbooked, doublebooked, plans, change of plan
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June 23rd, 2007 at 4:39 am
Oh my, one time I remember where I did kinda double-book myself once: I was to go out for drinks with a couple mates when a MAJOR sports event happened here (British Lions v NZ All Blacks - rugby). THEN I kinda got roped into meeting up with workmates for drinks too - as the directors and other traders from our other branches were here (for the game).
I watched the game with one workmate on the big screen at cinema (we didn’t get to go to the game itself). Then met up with my mates. This workmate joined us. Then we all went for drinks where the directors were - so I kinda combined everyone together. Worked out fine, no one minded - but I still felt bad about it.
August 18th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
hi i enjoyed the read