Touchy-feelie
I came in from work, changed out of my uniform, and checked on my girls and wife. All sleeping soundly.
I found myself pacing a little, up and down the house. Something was agitating me.
I grabbed the work cell as I pulled a long neck from the 'fridge. Cracked open the Blue Moon Belgian White Wheat Ale as the phone rang to the work cell of the guy who had just relieved me a little bit earlier at work.
"You busy?" I inquired when he answered.
"No, what's up?" he sounded a little surprised, and maybe a little glad to hear my voice. Huh. I would have thought otherwise.
"Just checking on something. Dude, when we were doing pass-on a little while ago, things seemed, uh, tense. Wanted to see if I was pissing you off somehow."
"Oh. That. Sorry, man. My wife had just chewed my hide before I came in. That's all," he said. He sounded a little embarassed.
"That's it? You sure? Anything you need me to do? I don't want stuff to fester," I pestered.
"Nope. It's not you-- I'm just an ass, is all," he responded with a chuckle. "But thanks for your concern."
"Heh. It was completely selfish, you may be certain of that, brother," I said with a smirk. "I have to sleep, sometime, and I sleep fitfully if I think that I've screwed up."
"Nope."
"Well then, be safe. G'night," I said as I hung up.
I took a swig of the Blue Moon. Yum, yum. I don't care if it is mass-produced; it's a tasty beer.
Then I thought: John Wayne never would have made that call. Ahab would be quite ashamed of me. Maybe I am getting too much soy (and its attending synthetic estrogen) in my diet...
Labels: apologies, beer, confessions, day at the office
posted by Matt G @ 1:56 AM
17 Comments:
Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but concern for others is a pretty big part of why you do what you do, right?
Blue Moon is yummy, and I don't care what Gunsmith Bob says about it.
Oh, and you did the right thing, Matt.
John Wayne would also be chugging whiskey at that point, the wife would be long gone and the daughters would hate him.
So I think you're ahead of the curve, dude.
This comment has been removed by the author.
That sounded a little terse, allow me to rephrase:
"The Duke worked alone (and was an actor). There is nothing wrong with a little interpersonal communication to make the job go smoother for yourself, if you must work with people."
Sorry, not enough coffee this AM.
Careing and concern are nothing to apologize for.
Just as long as your not calling to ask "Dude, does this Kevlar make me look fat?"
Then, back off the soy.
Mr Fixit
Kinder, gentler peace officers. Sensitive, new age cops. //grin\\
No, really - - there is much to be said for being alert to troubled coworkers. It can head off a crisis, which is generally a pretty good idea.
Good work.
I gotta try some of that Blue Moon.
Actually, I think you were being smart.
Conflict resolution (existing or possible) just is common sense.
You found out it wasn't you, and you made it safe for HIM to ask now if he's ever wondering what's up with you.
I already said this, but then my comment didn't show up, so I might be getting redundant later:
Lilly, John Wayne was a character of an actor, played by a man born as Marion Morrison. When I told a gung-ho buddy this, he almost challenged me to a fight. "That's a dammed LIE!!"
So even John Wayne wasn't John Wayne.
"You found out it wasn't you, and you made it safe for HIM to ask now if he's ever wondering what's up with you."
That's a good thing, Annie?!?? [/skeptical]
gosh, i love me some of that blue moon!!
give me alan alda or tom hanks anyday over john wayne!
and the work world would be a better place if everyone could be direct.
"give me alan alda or tom hanks anyday over john wayne!"
Oh, Susan...
I don't know if it's going to work out between us...
(heh.)
I've got to receive estrogen injections and have a case of Blue Moons, before I can watch much* Alan Alda.
I've pretty well gotten over my Tom Hanks backlash, though.
We have too much sissification of our male role models. Or we portray masculinity as monochromatic: You're either a sissy thinker, or you're a barbarian. No middle ground.
There are shades of gray.
* Defined as the time it takes to dive for the remote.
OF INTEREST:
Blogger seems to see my new uncharacteristic high levels of traffic as threatening. It's shut down my ability to post while it puts my blog into a queue to be investigated under suspicion of being a Spam Blog.
I can't decide if I'm more irritated, or complimented. They say it may take a couple of days for a real person to read it. TWO DAYS?!? What am I paying these people for?!??!?
Oh.
Wait.
I forgot. I haven't paid 'em a thin dime...
It's okay to drink mass produced beer...If it wasn't any good the masses wouldn't demand it. I hate beer snobs!
now come on, matt. alan alda in M*A*S*H was no sissy. and he had a great sense of humor about himself.
and have you ever tried bell's oberon beer? it's a microbrew from kalamazoo, mich. yummmmm.
What if something happened and you never got to clear the air with your co-worker? I learned a hard lesson once to never let hard feelings go unresolved.
Because you made that call is why I have such regard for what you write.
Mike
Ahab was a Werry Bad Captain . . . . and John Wayne would take care of his men.
Fairbairn would have done that. Ridgway would have done it, too.
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