Vexing

It was late. Everyone was tired. Probably hangry as well. I know I was.

That evening I was working with a crew I don't often work with save Manny. He's a young kid with a unique sense of humor. He makes me laugh.

Delegating a chore to him I watched him pass it on to another worker bee (I mean we're all worker bees here), a woman around my age. I ask, "Have you been trained on the breads?"

Silence. She's standing there with her head lowered not saying anything. I vaguely sense steam coming from her head but it was a subconscious thought that I didn't pick up on.

"Because we don't have time to train anyone" I say as I'm thinking, why did I come in on my day off?

Gruffly she grabs the cart of breads, obviously irritated, she huffs off towards the cooler.

In seconds I'm barring her way. "What's that about? Do you have an issue with me?" I ask, irritated as well. Thinking to myself, I'm not letting someone throw a pile of energetic dung in my face when I ask a simple question and a simple answer could see us all getting home earlier than later.

"You always talk to me like I'm a stupid idiot." She tells me.

Aghast, and completely blindsided by this news, I ask her for an example. I've never intended to speak to her in such a manner. In fact, I've spoken up for her on multiple occasions. Not only am I shocked I'm no longer irritated, I've entered the realm of irate.

She says to me that of course she knows how to tag the breads it would take an idiot not to know.

Believing she's got pent up aggression towards me from the words "you always" I ask her for other examples of when she's gotten triggered with me by the way I've spoken to her. I had thought we were friends.

She doesn't want to tell me anymore, instead saying that if it happens again she'll let me know.

Sorry, but on this night, in this circumstance that's simply not acceptable to me. I pursue her for more specifics telling her if I'm antagonizing her and don't even know it I want to know so that I can understand where this intense energy towards me is coming from. And since I'm beyond irritated it definitely appears that I'm over reacting. Yes, most people would probably say I was definitely over reacting by "cornering" her (her words) in the cooler relentlessly demanding specifics of how I've spoken so poorly to her (my words).

"You're just mean and cruel." she says, "Just leave me alone. I have to suck it up at work. You can to. Just suck it up and leave me alone."

Finally I leave the cooler to finish my job.

Sometimes life throws you a stinking curve ball of dung and it hits you smack in the face. Good times.

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