Rough Friday: Part I

I really should be going to bed, but there are a few things I'd like to get off my chest. I plan to vent this out into two sessions, but it could end up being more...who knows.

Preface: The beginning of the story begins on Thursday (yesterday) in the office where I work as a secretary. I work side-by-side with another girl, who is just a few years older than I (we'll call her Office Mate. She has her issues; she has her drama, but I have a soft spot for her. Someone once described her as a lost soul, and that is still how I see her today. She is 35, and she has two kids. Her baby-daddy was abusive, and he still continues to harass her on a weekly basis (they are currently not together). Her experiences have made her extremely anxious and almost awkward. Sometimes, her social anxieties show when she is dealing with students in the office. For example, when the office door opens, I immediately look up to greet the person walking through the door. I think my serving experience ingrained a certain etiquette into my head. Sometimes Office Mate doesn't even look at them. From time to time, I have found that I have a tendency to talk over her, or cut her off. I don't do this intentionally; it's part of who I am to share knowledge and ideas. If I know something, I want to tell you. It's not that she doesn't have the correct information, it's just that sometimes she takes really long pauses, as if she's thinking about the answer, so I chime in. I really do have to learn to back off. If she's ever going to get any better with her anxieties, then I have to let her gain some more confidence. I think subconsciously, I think I'm helping her, but I think yesterday, I got on her last nerve. It was exactly what I described above; I talked over her when she was trying to deal with a student. I was just trying to help. When the student left the office, I knew what I had done, and I saw it written all over her face I immediately apologized, and she said everything was fine. I don't know my Office Mate extremely well, but I have worked with her for the last three years, so I have a pretty good idea on how to read her. She's also an emotional wreck, so she's fragile and delicate. She looks like she could crumble at any second nearly every day of the week. Well after yesterday's debacle I knew she was peeved. I knew she was peeved and chose to not tell me why. I had a premonition in my head that because of this incident, she wouldn't come to work today (Friday). Boy, was I spot on! Rather than deal with me face-to-face, she chose to hide a home. Around NOON, I got an email from her, explaining how she feels when I talk over her. I was happy she wrote me, but I was (and still am) appalled that she took a personal day because she couldn't turn to me and tell me to back off!

I'm totally falling asleep, I'll finish the rest of my epic post tomorrow or Sunday :)