I come home from work to hear my dad throwing up. It was from food poisoning, he said. Good thing I didn’t eat that pizza last night. Then, my dad’s phone rings. I have two options: either hit ignore or answer the phone and say what I hear at least one hundred times a day—“Milwaukee Coach and Carriage.”

The first time I answered the phone I shook, thinking, what if I screw up the reservation? What if I don’t get the credit card right? What if I don’t send them to the right hotel?
Then the customer asks, “Do you have any openings for tonight?”
“Sorry, we are booked for tonight,” I say. Thinking, that was easy, another person calls. I answer: “Milwaukee Coach and Carriage.”
This customer says, “Do you have any openings for next Monday? And I have the Groupon.”
Great. Now I have to worry about getting their Groupon number too. “Sure, what time did you have in mind?” I ask.
“Do you have a five or six o’clock open?”

“Yes, I have a 5 o’clock at the Pfister or the Intercontinental,” I say.
“I’ll take the five o’clock at the Pfister for an hour ride.”
“Alright, then I just need the number on your Groupon and there is a two dollar and fifty cent tax that we have to collect and we take Mastercard, Visa, or Discover,” I say. Confirming information, I say, “You are all set. Have a great day.”

By the end of the day, I had taken fifteen reservations, some complicated and some simple. Yet I had successfully sent all of the customers to the right hotel and informed the drivers about the rides I added to their schedule. I even dealt with an issue at a wedding. All of this tested my patience, and my ability to learn and problem solve quickly. In the end, I had a different perspective on how stressful my dad’s life is and also the knowledge that if I ever come home to my dad throwing up again, I can answer the phone and take control of Milwaukee Coach and Carriage.