I Pulled a Will Hunting Last Week and Didnt' Even Know It!

 

Last week, I had a rare melt-down at work. It just sort of came at me with no warning when one of the owners blew up at me for no logical reason. Basically, the dude went apoplectic at me for something that was his own fault. When I did not accept responsibility for his error (and why should I?), he escalated his rage. Still not backing down, I became angry and escalated things in return.

 

It nearly got irreparably ugly until I finally decided to back off, if only to salvage my job for the moment. I'd definitely entered dangerous waters, though (standing up to an owner being unheard of in this industry). I figured the chances were reasonable that, upon arriving at work the next day, I'd be fired. (I wasn't. Turns out most of the other management sided with me.)

 

Although it's kind of an interesting story, what's more interesting to me is what *almost* happened. Prior to my firing off my "backing off" email, I'd nearly sent out a further escalation in which I attempted to "read" the guy beyond the argument we were having at the moment.

 

Ever see "Good Will Hunting"?  Remember that scene where Matt Damon deconstructs Robin William's life based solely on that painting hanging in his office?  I totally did that to this guy. I looked into his anger and saw so many things wrong with his life that I'm so glad now I did not throw out there -- because everything I "saw" was spot-on. Turns out his wife *just* left him.  I mean... I was *this* fucking close to typing that very thing into an email. 

 

Thank god I kept a level head about this. Can you imagine the level of rage that might have sent the poor guy into? And what good could possibly have come out of my letting him have it, anyway? This is all yet another reason for me to leave the toxic corporate world once and for all. I don't want to put myself in situations in which my newfound mental clarity is used for negative purposes.

 

But, what interests me is:  Is *this* going to be my superpower? I'm not usually like this. Normally, this kind of intuition is unavailable to me. But, as I've been saying for the past several months (on those rare occasions when I actually post something), I feel more in tune with this than ever. This was just the latest affirmation of it, even though it was an uncomfortable experience.

 

Intuition.  Damn, I was hoping for levitation or invisibility. Oh well... maybe we get more than one superpower. We'll see, in time.