Anger is Such a Waste of Time
Friday, 28. October 2005, 14:13:38
There are several ladies in the building where I work. I have discussed them before today. The building is an old (by American standards) Victorian style house that was built circa 1905. It is in the heart of downtown historical Ocala, Florida. Each of us has our own office space and mine is the largest of the offices. Originally, the room I'm in was the kitchen and because of the era when the house was built, the kitchen is the largest room in the whole house. It is pretty cool.
At any rate, I spend my time in my office, diligently working creating the new catalog of merchandize the company sells. IT has to be ready to go to the printer's by the first week in December and getting 88 pages ready for print is very time consuming. As a result, I don't talk to the other ladies here very often.
Earlier in the year (June) everyone I work with forgot my birthday and I didn't get the traditional birthday celebration--no cake and balloons and the silly hat and the chorus of singers who sing Happy Brithday loud and off-key. When I pointed out the error in August, they had a substitute birthday party for me in which the ladies pitched in a bought my lunch one day.
I said thank you, but I was apparently not effusive enough.
Office Lady: Did you know that Jan, Linda and Susan aren't talking to you?
Me: No. I didn't know that.
OL: They are pissed because you didn't say thank you for the birthday party and they haven't been talking to you since then.
Me: Well, I did say thank you. I just didn't gush. I don't get gushy.
OL: I heard you say thank you.
Me: Wait. They're not talking to me? Really? Since August?
OL: Yeah. They are very pissed at you. They went to all the trouble to pay for your lunch and they think you weren't grateful enough.
Me: They're not talking to me? Strange. I didn't notice.
OL: You've been the topic of conversation more than once.
Me: OK. Let me get this straight. Three ladies aren't talking to me because I didn't say thank you to them for forgetting my birthday to begin with and I didn't even notice they weren't talking to me?
OL: Yep. They sound really stupid when you say it that way. I think I will tell them.
Me: I guess I didn't notice because I am in my office doing my job.
OL: Jack the Boss said the same thing.
Me: You mean they were tattle-tales and called Jack to complain?
OL: Yep.
Me: And he blew thme off?
OL: NO, it was great. He laughed at them. I mean really laughed out loud. I thought he was going to hurt himself. And then he told them they should be working instead of worrying about you because obviously, you have been doing your job and not socializing instead. Then he asked if anyone had talked to you about it and they all three said no. They were just walking around being pissed and not trying to solve the problem.
Me: Wow! I bet that made everyone angry.
OL: Actually, Linda said, "Why are we wasting our time being angry with her if she doesn't even know it?"
Me: My point, exactly.
At any rate, I spend my time in my office, diligently working creating the new catalog of merchandize the company sells. IT has to be ready to go to the printer's by the first week in December and getting 88 pages ready for print is very time consuming. As a result, I don't talk to the other ladies here very often.
Earlier in the year (June) everyone I work with forgot my birthday and I didn't get the traditional birthday celebration--no cake and balloons and the silly hat and the chorus of singers who sing Happy Brithday loud and off-key. When I pointed out the error in August, they had a substitute birthday party for me in which the ladies pitched in a bought my lunch one day.
I said thank you, but I was apparently not effusive enough.
Office Lady: Did you know that Jan, Linda and Susan aren't talking to you?
Me: No. I didn't know that.
OL: They are pissed because you didn't say thank you for the birthday party and they haven't been talking to you since then.
Me: Well, I did say thank you. I just didn't gush. I don't get gushy.
OL: I heard you say thank you.
Me: Wait. They're not talking to me? Really? Since August?
OL: Yeah. They are very pissed at you. They went to all the trouble to pay for your lunch and they think you weren't grateful enough.
Me: They're not talking to me? Strange. I didn't notice.
OL: You've been the topic of conversation more than once.
Me: OK. Let me get this straight. Three ladies aren't talking to me because I didn't say thank you to them for forgetting my birthday to begin with and I didn't even notice they weren't talking to me?
OL: Yep. They sound really stupid when you say it that way. I think I will tell them.
Me: I guess I didn't notice because I am in my office doing my job.
OL: Jack the Boss said the same thing.
Me: You mean they were tattle-tales and called Jack to complain?
OL: Yep.
Me: And he blew thme off?
OL: NO, it was great. He laughed at them. I mean really laughed out loud. I thought he was going to hurt himself. And then he told them they should be working instead of worrying about you because obviously, you have been doing your job and not socializing instead. Then he asked if anyone had talked to you about it and they all three said no. They were just walking around being pissed and not trying to solve the problem.
Me: Wow! I bet that made everyone angry.
OL: Actually, Linda said, "Why are we wasting our time being angry with her if she doesn't even know it?"
Me: My point, exactly.
WIDGETIZE
Capegirl # 28. October 2005, 15:10
eztigma # 29. October 2005, 05:09
Nyingje # 29. October 2005, 10:04
KayFour # 29. October 2005, 13:10
Anger tends to be that way. People walk around, being angry with someone. The angry people are consumed with the feeling, it becomes foremost in their minds, and stays there. And WAY too often, the person they are angry with doesn't know, or they get on with thier life because they consider the angry person unimportant at that moment.
hungryghost # 30. October 2005, 03:09
By the way, I love it when you recreate conversations like this!
musickna # 1. March 2006, 13:37
glooba # 2. March 2006, 15:51
But also, anger can sometimes bring people together. They might have had a great time together being angry at you and once that anger is gone, they might find out that they don´t have anything fun to talk about anymore.
So even though anger is not a good thing, it might not have been such a waste of time and energy for them until it went away. While it lasted it was probably a way for them to bond. Just a thought that crossed my mind while I read the story.