Last month, my partner and I took a quick trip to Florida to celebrate my birthday. I love trips, and we don’t get to go on enough of them. And, after the winter we’ve had, we needed the break.

We decided to stay in Fort Meyers Beach on the west side of the state. So, naturally, we needed a car to drive us to the coast.

At the car rental counter, the customer representative is pleasant. “What brings you to Florida?” Like 99% of people who visit, it’s the beach, duh. Who doesn’t love the sun and sand?

They try to upsell us to a bigger car and we decline. We really just need a car to get us to our hotel and to the aforementioned beach (and booze, naturally).

As we continue to chat, the customer they helped before us came rushing to the counter, confused and upset. The customer had been given keys to a minivan and had no clue what to do with it. They were frustrated and close to tears.

The customer representative was curt, repeatedly asking the frazzled customer to sit down. The customer stormed out, visibly frustrated.

An awkward moment passes, and the agent continues to help us. I look down at the car keys they’re about to hand us and asked, “What car are we getting?”

“A minivan.” Then, dead silence.

“Oh. We didn’t request a minivan,” I said. “We requested a small sedan. It’s just the two of us, and we don’t need all that space. I also don’t know if I can drive a minivan. On an island. Do I have other choices, like the bigger sedan you mentioned? I would rather save you the minivan for people who actually need it.”

The customer representative said they didn’t have a sedan right then, so this would be a free upgrade. “I didn’t want you to wait.” They became very defensive.

I attempted to understand why none of this was communicated on the front end. It became evident this was mostly a company culture issue. Communication didn’t seem to be a priority internally or externally.

I thanked the agent for their help but expressed frustration that I was not provided with options.

So, I explained: “It sounds like I have three choices: to wait for a small sedan, to get the minivan with a free upgrade, or to pay for the upgraded sedan. I would like to make the choice.”

I was truly baffled. How do you make decisions on behalf of your customers and clients without giving them the opportunity to make a choice—or even express a preference? How do you have a complete transaction without communication?

This, naturally, made me think about what I do every day. I would never, in a million years, think to make decisions on behalf of a client without communicating. I wouldn’t send a print job out without their approval. I would never push a website live without a go-ahead from the team. And I would certainly never send an invoice without a conversation about it. You don’t make decisions that affect others without a conversation.

So many people avoid difficult conversations because, apparently, they’re uncomfortable. Or people don’t want to disappoint others for not making a deadline or going over budget or forgetting to turn off lights … or whatever thing we, as humans, forget or miss or drop the ball on.

And, here’s the thing: As adults, we should be able to have difficult conversations—not avoid them. Humans screw up. We make mistakes. We miss a beat from time to time and we, dare I say, disappoint. Nothing good comes from sweeping things under rugs. And nothing good comes from silence when there’s no room for it.

However, the biggest disappointment is not communicating or allowing the other party the choice to discuss and work through it, whatever the “it” may be. Nothing is ever resolved or goes away by pretending it doesn’t exist. If that’s the case, the world would be all flowers and rainbows.

My partner and I ended up with the larger sedan—at no additional cost—and a recommendation to a fun bar.

This interaction reminded me of two statements I live by.

1. Communicate, and communicate often.

2. Be kind and fair, but not at your own expense.