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Never Assume Anything!

Guest post by: Barry Roberts

Article Overview: A true (and funny) story and a lesson learned.

Never Assume Anything!

I was driving out of town one sunny afternoon and decided to check my voice mail at the office. A few hum-drum messages were waiting along with this one, “Hello Barry, this is Sally Burgess (not the real name) from the IRS. I’d like to speak with you as soon as possible. Please cal me back at 123-456-7890. Thanks.”

I began to panic and sweat. I immediately called my accountant.

He advised me to calm down, call them back and then call him again. “Everything”, he assured me, “will be OK.”

I (nervously) called Sally back. It turns out that Sally was the regional director of the IRS and wanted me to speak at their annual meeting. Whew!

Fast forward to the meeting date. I thought it would be funny to tell the audience about this story, and so I did. It got big laughs from the audience, just as I had hoped.

In the midst of all the laughter, there was a raised hand in the rear of the auditorium. Acknowledging that, I asked.”Yes sir, do you have a question?”

“Yes”, he said, “What, exactly, were you so nervous about?”

The lesson here; Never assume anything. Take what you've got and go for it...in a big way...with all you've got! Have fun and above all, always maintain your sense of humor.

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Article Tags: humor, life lesson



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