Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Extinguisher

Sociability tip: always carry a fire extinguisher in your back-pack.

OK, perhaps you don’t need an actual, physical fire extinguisher, but wherever there are people, fires will crop up. I’m talking about misunderstandings between two people who’s mouths and ears somehow missed the connection. Ruffled feathers of people who are a little more sensitive than they need be. Offhand remarks form people who speak first and think later. Let’s face it, we all create fires and we all burn sometimes.

But do we all have a backup plan that we can call on when needed. Perhaps it is the ability to immediately slip into a sympathetic tone to avoid a small fire getting bigger. Perhaps it is an emergency escape plan so that we don’t make others’ fires bigger by putting in our own two cents. Perhaps it is a little alarm bell that screams out in our heads: “Just let it go. Just let it go. Just let it go.”

What’s your fire extinguisher?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oeps. Ek dink my extinguisher is bietjie leeg... :-0

Hanlie said...

I find it ironic that the very people who are a "little more sensitive than they need to be" are the very ones who can tear you to shreds with their comments or remarks!

I've developed highly selective hearing and just don't react. This is not the best course of action, as I still internalize the criticism, so I need to work on that aspect.