How do they do it?

 This will be a 'connect the dots' post -- 

I have had a shop on Etsy for going on six years now, approximately 600 sales, many five-star reviews from happy customers. 

Over the past two days I received both five-star reviews and TWO negative reviews.  Not what I ever want to see.

This week I received a rather rude (my opinion) three-star review from a customer who had advance photos of exactly which flowers she was to receive, and she approved that selection prior to my shipping the order.  Included in the order were over 15 different types of flowers.  The negative review included a photo of ONE kind and color of those flowers, saying they just weren't "pretty".  Ironically, the very flowers she disliked are among my favorites.  She doesn't have to like them, but had the opportunity to exchange them, and certainly had ample enough alternates to work with.
Disappointing.

But the other ONE-star review was from a repeat customer!  My heart sank and it felt like a big rock filled my lungs.  Ouch!  The wording of this review was much kinder.  The product arrived in poor condition -- was not packed with my usual care.   I reached out, offered replacement or refund, came to an agreement, and the review was edited, the rating was altered to a three-star review (fair enough) and a very kind additional comment was added.
This I can live with.  Fair. 

I can also guarantee it will be a long time, if ever, that I put a future order in the mail without a double/triple check! 

Several hours later I am still feeling deflated, defeated, down on myself.

I titled this post, "How do they do it?" because two groups of 'they' have been on my mind.   The first group would be politicians, who must feel rankled by unfair commentary and outright insults (not to mention lies) that are tossed in their direction frequently.  Especially in our current political environment.  

The second 'they' that occurred to me is middle- and high-school educators.  I tried teaching middle school (and subbed in high schools) and there were many days where I came home with a similar sickening feeling in my body, feelings coming from the 'failures' I felt at my ineptness at having what it takes to endure teaching middle-schoolers.  My heart and intentions were in the right place, my training strong, my ideas rampant, but oh, my it takes a lot to survive a day as an involved middle-school educator 'teaching' 7 class periods a day.  

A dear prior colleague of mine, Gary Carkin, was known to cheer us from the sidelines, often signing his emails, "Onward, Ho!" 

So, Onward Ho! I shall go, striving for more merited five-star reviews.

And please may it be true that I never see another one-star review with my name on it!