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When I make a promise, I try to remember to keep it, without people having to remind me. I’m not perfect, but I do my best. And I don’t think I should have to remind people of the promises they made to me. For months now, I’ve been hearing that Tim is going to come by and (a) haul away the massive old copier that’s taking up space in my living room, and (2) lay down some gravel in my muddy rutted driveway.
It’s been a couple of days since the last storm, but the rain at that time was enough to turn the driveway to sludge again, and every time I either walk through it or drive through it, I think about Tim’s promise. Sometimes I get so tweaked out by the thought that I stomp through the puddles with enough force to splash all the way over the fence. That doesn’t do any good, of course, but it’s somehow a helpful coping mechanism.
Tonight I had the perfect opportunity to bring it home, because Tim called me (after hours) to let me know that he’d made a mistake on the time cards for the payroll checks I’d spent all day writing. I told him to make the correction on next week’s time cards, because I wasn’t about to rewrite any checks at 7:30 pm. Then he asked me, “Is there anything you need from me?”
Well, of course, you’re going to say I should have reminded him of his promises, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it. I hesitated after he asked, thinking maybe I was giving him the opportunity to remember on his own. If he did, he wasn’t offering. In fact, he used the gap to tell me about how hard his days have been, and I took that as my cue to let it drop. I just gave him a low key “No, but thanks.” |
