Niles Reddick: “Unraveler

Unraveler

by Niles Reddick

When Toni walked in to complain to me about the email she’d received from the home office’s administrative assistant, she pushed her eyebrows together, grimaced, and her cheeks bubbled out like a squirrel’s full of nuts.

I told her, “I don’t know what she meant in her email to you. It seems to go against policy and practice. Maybe she was expressing herself, letting you know how she feels about it. Yes, she could’ve softened the tone. Why don’t you email her and ask her nicely what the hell she meant?”

Toni stomped off like a child who didn’t get her way, and while I knew it wasn’t in character to get an email like that from Frances, I figured she might be hungover, having sinus issues, dealing with a sick cat, a misdirected teen, or an elderly parent. Maybe she’d had a seizure or was angry at God for her pathetic choice of men multiple times over. Maybe she was worried about her weight, watching carbs and protein intake to drop those ten pounds she found and can’t seem to lose. Maybe she was worried about monthly bill payments, how little she made, how that credit card bill seemed to get larger no matter what she sent, or maybe she was worried she can never make it a week without hating something about life, not being grateful for what she had, accepting she was a mortal, and won’t win the lottery this side of death.

I don’t know what the hell was behind the woman’s communication problem. I don’t have time to unravel bad communication for everyone in the company. If I did, I’d never get anything done.

City Brink 17