We Never Get Past The Smiley Faces

• This was a previous post from Oct. 20th, 2009 on livejournal

My friend, Caryn, was writing out the check for Apollo the other night when I saw she made a cute little smiley face on the check she put in the envelope. That brought me back to a time long ago...

I'm cleaning up the barn isle after Pam gave a hard lesson of screaming "outside reign" to a satisfied masochistic client (aren't they all) when she picked up the training checks. This five foot two, hard as nails, tough blond that I have ut-most respect for and am a little afraid of looks at all the checks and I hear her give out a squeak. It's a high pitched sound that would come out of a mouse not a whip wielding hard nosed dressage trainer.

She's dialing her phone and waits for the pick-up. I can tell from the conversation who the client was because of the horses name given. Unless the client has done something completely stupid Pam is sweet, accommodating and informative. Unless you're in a lesson. Anyway... she was blah blah blahing and then I hear "So why didn't I get a smiley face on my check? Did I do something wrong?"

This was the point in which I start laughing hysterically. I look on the check and nope, no smiley face as this client usually does. The clients response? "I was in a hurry and didn't think about it. No, you didn't do anything wrong."

I'm pounding the walls, howling, crying (trust me you just had to be there). I told my story to Caryn, she said, "We never get past the smiley faces."

I can tell you, it's true.