John’s Open letter of Apology to Susan…
or What John has learned from the pandemic
I am sorry, I am sorry. I am sorry… Don’t bury the lead. I am sorry for every time you bought 6 of something when I thought we only needed one. Really? The 6 pack of Purell? In the extra huge, king size, really? Are we going to be drinking the stuff? You ordered your new desk for the house, so early. Why? We’re not moving the office into the house for 7 more months what’s the rush? She was pressing me to sell the furniture in the spare bedroom (future home of her office) like the whole place would explode if we didn’t! What?? Please lighten up!
Susan and I grew up with different mentalities. She grew up with “a Pandemic is coming we just don’t know when yet”. I grew up with rainbows and lollipops everything is going to work out great, relax! I plan for as if everything is going to work out, there will be no traffic, no delays, no mistakes, (no pandemic of course)etc. Let us not forget I am CHEAP! When
Just in Time Manufacturing
came out I was like finally a really cool business justification for my cheapness. From the time the Pandemic hit, I can’t count all the incidents where Susan’s planning was Pandemic ready but I had to apologize for my “too soon, too much, why now? attitude.” I do know apologies were needed multiple times a day.
Which brings me to the really annoying thing, she knows stuff I don’t know! She sees things I can’t see. She can sense stuff coming even when she can’t name what I lit is. And here’s the really, really, really, annoying part she’s always right. OK to be perfectly fair, Susan has been right 107,296 times and I have been right 9 times. C’mon that’s’ almost once every 4 years!
But the damned pandemic just jammed it home. We did have 15 bottles of Purel Hand Sanitizer when you couldn’t get the stuff anywhere. Our normal stock pile of toilet paper got us far enough into the pandemic that we could get a huge case from Office Depot, no sweat. Her desk was up assembled and ready to go 2 weeks before the shelter in place was announced.
When Susan was leading
Women Moving Forward®
at Hewlett Packard in Northern Colorado one of the guys at the plant called me to say the course was named wrong. He said it should be called “Women Dragging Men Forward”. In my case no truer words were ever spoken.
I am positive some of you during the Pandemic (or before) have had this experience. In any relationship gay or straight, at work or at home, married or not, you are in this. All you “sunshine and lollipops” people need stop reading the article and go apologize BEFORE the Pandemic ready person reads the article and places it where it will best get your attention!
It will be tough apologizing 107,296 times
.
Here’s one: I apologize for having to drag me forward 41 years
.
One down 107,265 to go.
At least it was public.
As always we invite your comments
