Not too long ago, I wrote a post about a person in my office who had gotten under my skin. I had alluded to the fact that I thought maybe he was lonely....I had never noticed a wedding band and he's really such an eccentric type - I thought maybe he was more of a loner.
Boy was I wrong. And pleasantly so.....
This morning, I ran into him in the break room - and he was in a rather upbeat mood, which I could tell because when I said hello to him, he sounded happy to say hello back - which isn't always the case. So, I seized the opportunity and asked him if he was enjoying his holiday season thus far. Which he said he was...and he laughed. That was when I noticed the wedding band.....so I asked him if he hosted, or was a guest this Thanksgiving. He laughed and said he was very happy to have been a guest this year at his son's house. So I said "Oh how nice...! Is he your only son?" to which he happily and proudly told me he has 8 children and 13 grandchildren. Holy Moly! It was such a nice thing to see how he almost lit up telling me....and it was something that I never would've guessed in a million years. So I asked how they work the holidays with so many children...is it difficult with children vying for their parent's attention....how do they split it all up? And he seemed almost eager to share the concept of managing such a large family with me.
This is why I hated even writing that post when I did. Maybe, people aren't always the same type of person in work, as they may be outside of work. It's important to not take people and what they say and do in work too personally, and take life in stride. And while he didn't necessarily do anything to me that was anything mean, maybe I should've taken a step back and not gotten so irritated. In retrospect, maybe work is just so very important to him now that his 8 children are all grown and out of the house.
Everyone has a "story", and we should always be sensitive to that.
Lesson learned for me today.
5 comments:
It's funny how people can be perceived, and everyone's judgement of a person is different. I dread to think what some people think of me sometimes, especially if I'm having a moan or just having a scatty day!
We should give people the benefit of the doubt, although everyone makes judgements. Don't beat yourself up too much about it.
Sort of a "Mister Rogers" moment, eh? He was fond of saying that everyone is lovable if you will only take the time to listen to their stories. I don't take that to heart often enough myself.
Suldog, away from his usual computer
You know what I like about you, Rebecca? EVERYTHING and the way you look at things!
Amen. Never judge a book by it's cover!
I have to agree...you are universally loved. Here in Connecticut, too. And wow, it's 66 degrees here, and warm where you are too. I know! Wait till tomorrow afternoon. The thunderboomers will usher in a cold air mass, but the Monday coastal storm now looks like it will stray eastward, out to sea. But we will never know, yet. Enjoy your Thursday, and thanks for stopping by! If there is a big storm with white stuff on the way, there will be PeterN* bulletins on my blog.
*= copyright PeterNWeatherWise 2006-7. All rights pending.
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