◉ 016 | You Fucked Up. Now What?

I was in my early twenties.

A student.

Working as a handyman

for a multinational.

Changing globes.

Assembling desks.

Managing the office supply storage.

Stocktaking. Ordering.

But most of the time I was on the road.

Handling paperwork between banks,

tax offices and clients—

driving my own car.

Paid by the hour—

plus by the kilometre.

As a student,

you couldn’t ask for more.

Also,

I’d take company cars,

BMWs and Volvos,

to the service,

to the car wash,

to the airport.

As someone who loved cars and driving,

it felt like a dream.

One day,

the Managing Director was on a business trip.

His assistant asked me

to bring his BMW to a car wash.

I was in the queue,

windows up,

waiting for the brushes to start.

Great music was playing from a CD.

I opened the central console.

Fancy mechanism.

Beige leather still smells new.

Inside, a blue, green and gold

empty cardboard CD case.

Buddha Bar Nature.

The music was too good.

I wanted it,

but didn’t want to buy a CD.

Just burn a copy.

Borrow it.

Rip it.

Bring it back tomorrow.

No harm,

I told myself.

Next morning,

I arrived early.

But not before him.

Not before her.

She asked if I’d seen the CD.

I froze.

It was right there,

in my pocket.

She said,

“He’s pissed.”

“He wants you in his office.”

Dead man walking, I thought.

It felt like the Green Mile.

I started packing the desk in my head.

But the MD wasn’t Balkan-pissed.

He was Swedish-pissed.

Still.

Controlled.

Razor-sharp.

He said:

“That’s my property.

You crossed a line.

I get why you did it.

But it’s wrong.

Next time—just ask.”

I never did it again.

Not at work.

Not anywhere.

It was a yellow card.

And a lesson.

A lesson in empathy.

In knowing you fucked up—

and still got a second chance.

Trust takes time to build.

But it cracks easily.

Like thin glass.

So fragile.

It looks like

I’d earned enough credit

by showing up

in all the other ways.

We’re all human.

And humans make mistakes.

The only question is—

do we learn something from it?

And next time—

just ask.