“Door May Fall if Closed Aggressively”
Yes, the sign on the bathroom stall in the coffee shop did read, “Door may fall if closed aggressively.”
I choked back some giggles as I made my way into the stall (gingerly and tenderly pulling that stall door into its hinge locking mechanism, BTW!)
I immediately started picturing all the guilty culprits who caused that door to fall enough times that a worker needed to make a sign. Who were these people taking their rage out on this poor, innocent bathroom stall door?
But then, my thoughts turned to me. Despite decades of training in emotional intelligence, I must admit that I could, at certain exceptional moments, picture myself aggressively closing a stall door.
Maybe a big moment when a boss changes a goal for the fourth time in a five-week period and rages at the team for missing a deadline?
A medium moment, like me spending excessive energy quibbling with my husband about who really left a dirty dish on the counter?
Or a tiny moment, like someone taking my favorite chair at that very same coffee shop right when I was going to sit in it!!!! (hypothetically, of course)?
On the other hand, maybe a barista hired for their coffee-making skills and customer agility finally lost their sh*&t after fixing the door for the third time in a week?
I may never uncover the answer to this profound life mystery.
I think, for now, I’ll keep working on my empathy (for that poor innocent door, of course! and maybe for me, bosses, and spouses, too) and notice when I am directing my anger in the wrong direction.
