November Days of Gratitude #2

Get Thankful everybody. It's the time after summer, between Halloween and Christmas, when we all have to tote up our blessing and remember that we have got it really good. Shove down those work frustrations. Put aside those unfulfilled life goals. Overlook those daily failings. Life is better than you think, says I.

How do I know?

Credit: images.cryhavoc.org

Well, today, I am thankful for tact . . . and I bet that you are as well.

Without tact, we'd actually say what we think. And if we did that, each day would be some sort of verbal Armageddon and we'd really be angry all the time because everyone would be confronting us with the worst version of ourselves . . . most likely the version of ourselves that we are afraid to admit to and that we really don't want people to deal with.

So, we hid behind tact and politeness and get-alongingness and we're all in this togetherness. And it is the glue that makes things stick. It is the lubricant that smooths over the rough patches. It is the grease that helps me get through a day when everyone is looking out for their own interests but I am worried that I'm never looking out for mine.

[And yes, I'm sure some of you might read yourselves into these sentences, and I can only say that this post is motivated by a single incident that happened to me this very afternoon at 4 pm and it happened when I got home and it isn't related to members of my family and it isn't directly work-related. So . . . I PROMISE . . . rest easy. This is NOT about YOU.]

See, how I just used tact and conciliation to ease your concerns--assuming you have any? I could have just left it out there and left you to twist and worry all night long wondering . . . Is David hating on ME?! But what did I do?!!! I can't have David hating meeeee! (I assume you are all worried about how I view you at all times.)

But I was tactful. I assuaged your fears. I'm not angry with YOU.
I'm just angry at THAT person over there . . . the one behind you, standing slightly to the side, the one that I'm directing my angry eye toward. THAT one . . . And BOY are they gonna feel the burn when I unleash my tact-less comments in their direction!