Sit With The Silence

Facebook is a poor way to learn about the deaths of people you know and particularly poor for sharing news of suicide.

There is a two hour time difference between home and here so when I first saw mention from people in LA at what would have been before 6 AM I knew something was going on.

It was bad news and I was intentional in my not posting about it because it is not my story to tell and there is a family reeling from the news.

We go back many years to when our oldest kids were in preschool but those days are long ago and so are the elementary school years when there was daily interaction.

It is a rough situation and I don’t fault people for trying to comfort each other and figure things out. I left a comment and an emoji and spent some time thinking about whether it would be appropriate to send a card and when to do it.

When my Dad died there were some people who were very vocal on Facebook who said nothing to me. I didn’t notice for a while but eventually I did and it irked me because it is easy to say “I am sorry for your loss.”

And then I sat with the silence and let go of my anger towards some and cut off others but that is a different tale.

Sit With The Silence

Someone found a way to progressively irritate me this week.

Monday was my first day back after vacation. I returned to almost 250 emails and that was after rolling through a chunk Sunday night so that Monday would be better.

One of those emails was a request for information that I don’t have. I am not the right contact but I put a sticky note on my desk as a reminder to figure out where to send them.

I didn’t respond because it wasn’t a priority and I figured I’d get to it on Tuesday.

Tuesday came and I received another message from the same person with a note that said second request. The sender doesn’t know me, we have no relationship or history yet they felt the need to put second request in the subject line.

That irked me, especially as it had been one day since the initial message had been sent. Nothing in it said it was pressing.

I sent my own email out asking for guidance as to the right person to forward this to and forgot about it. I was still working on catching up and I didn’t think about telling the sender. It was an honest mistake.

Today I received a new message with 3rd request in all caps in the subject line and a note that said if I am not interested in replying I should say so.

Tomorrow I’ll thank them for the having the same grace and courtesy as the extended warranty people and ask them if they are interested in buying a fire extinguisher to use upon their hair.

Because anyone who sends emails like that must have used too much hairspray and inadvertently set their hair on fire while trying to light their cigarette.

Unless I get another message with a subject like that says 4th request and then they can sit with the silence.

The Invitations Will End

I am feeling a little feisty and a little fired about a few things. Maybe it is tied into the news, maybe it is tied into my really not wanting to go the doc or maybe it is other things.

Maybe it is fatigue from some of the crap that is going on, this not feeling quite right gets old.

Or maybe it is all of the above, not going to spend any more time thinking about it than that. It will either get better or it won’t.

I see it as being related to other things and remind myself that letter that are read but not commented upon signal assent.

Sometime the silence of consent is enough. Won’t be like the email writer and threaten that the invitations will end or say something stupid like “email me back and say remove.”

When I am done I walk away.

Say a few words and then go, no point in dragging shit out forever. Those days are gone, don’t have time nor energy for it.

****

Don’t know if I have ever heard this Gordon Lightfoot song before, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did. Feels vaguely familiar, but who knows.

Still scratching my head about the latest school shooting and how some people continue to make excuses not to take action.

How did we end up in a place where teachers are disarming 12 year-old kids.

We’re still in the early days of the Biden administration and I am hopeful that he’ll make some big things happen. I like much of what I have seen and heard but there is a long way to go.

It is a thousand times better than the prior administration but we have more than a few battles because the death cult and their crooked leader are still pushing lies about the election and the pandemic.

So I am hopeful that the feds push through some legislation that isn’t just an executive order that can be wiped out by another president.

Hopeful that we see progress that pulls in more independents and disillusioned members of the GOP and that gives enough numbers and weight to keep us moving the right way.

Too soon to tell either way, but I like what I see.