Early Thursday morning after the commercial shoot, I canceled all my clients – was just too tired from standing in the sun all day, and when I work up at 04:00 that morning with my legs and back hurting, I decided to cancel and try to relax. One of my appointments didn’t care for that too much and she sent me a nasty email complaining that I didn’t call and give her 24 hours notice, which is part of my cancellation policy for clients. That would have meant calling her at 16:00 on the day of the commercial shoot, at which time I hadn’t been thinking I’d have to cancel my clients at all – heck, even when I went to bed that night I was still anticipating that I was going to be working on clients the next day. I should have had more compassion for her, but I was a tiny bit snarky in my reply.
would you prefer that I called you at 04:30 when I canceled the appointment?
I did offer her an additional 30 minutes of time for her inconvenience, but I doubt she’ll book the session, which is a shame, because she has a pain complaint that responds very well to the style of work I do. I do understand about people’s pain, but I have to be able to take care of myself to provide people with the best possible care.
That evening, I was to have my friend, Drew, the historian whom I have bartered with for my stairway walks. But I slept through my alarm and missed waking up in time to meet him, and he wasn’t very happy. It was a lame day.
Friday, I had five clients, and more on Saturday, and I was looking forward to finishing my notes for Sunday’s stairway walk on the bus ride home, but I stepped off the bus Saturday afternoon and missed the sidewalk, and my back got all twisted as I moved to keep my balance. Soon as I got home I immediately put the ice pack on my back and chilled out in my room for a bit, took an ibuprofen. By that evening, I knew that it wasn’t going to be ready to lead the challenging walk, so I canceled it.
Sunday, I rested all day, did laundry, cuddled with Nicholas, and generally gave my back a break.
On Monday, while I was showering, my 15:00 client called to let me know that she had locked herself out of the house and had no way of getting to my shop, so would I be willing to grant an exception to my cancellation policy. I called her back and assured her that it was fine, and to reschedule soon.
Today I have three clients, and my book is full tomorrow, too.
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