Day 222 - Badger

"STOP BADGERING THE WITNESS!". A familiar phrase if you've ever watched any type of courtroom television show, but what happens when you're at work, and you're busy, and someone insists on badgering you and there is no legal representation to defend you? It's not like you're just kinda busy, you have looming deadlines to meet (like, in ten minutes) and additionally, your distress is obvious to the person badgering you, yet they keep badgering you!

Example? I'm on a conference call and working on my computer simultaneously. My boss has just left my workspace, insisting I meet her deadline on a project (in addition to what I'm already working on), and an instant message has just popped up on my computer with yet another work related task. I'm pretty much over my limit with stress at this point, but yet, the Badger insists on coming to talk to me, and then hover over me and even states, "I know you're busy, but...". Well, if you know I'm busy, then GO AWAY is what I want to scream, but before I can respond, the Badger is gnawing away at me asking questions. I can't even think straight at this point, much less logically compute it's request or respond, and yet the Badger remains relentless. I struggle to answer, and finally I turn around and in my most agitated voice state, "CAN WE HANDLE THIS IN 15 MINUTES?". Sensing this wasn't really a question, the Badger looked on in shock and then responded positively to my request and retreated.

What did I learn from this situation? That when dealing with a Badger, in conversation, everything that comes before the word "but" doesn't matter. The Badger knew (and could physically see) I was swamped, and more so drowning in work, yet it didn't matter. The Badger felt the need to make it's issues my priority despite visibly causing aggravation and stress. Once the Badger was proverbially "smacked in the nose" by my comment, it retreated. Why couldn't this scenario have gone that way in the first place, meaning, that the Badger viewed my workload and then proactively choose to come back in 15 minutes? Well because that's not the nature of the Badger! Knowing that badgers will come and go, I suggest we all figure out our own forms of badger repellent, and more so, don't be afraid to use it! Happy badger hunting!

Just say "NO" to badgers!