Friday, July 18, 2008

A Fly on the Wall - Most Difficult IV

I live drama. One benefit of joining Sons of Italy (national organization committed to preserving Italian culture) is for me to get in touch with my roots. For an Italian everything is dramatic. I can remember back in the day, when Grandma Senesi was living, everything, I mean everything, was a big deal.

Grandma would announce to the world that she was walking through the house to put her shoes on. Ben Gay (not a confession but an analgesic balm) was the cure for everything. The Puerto Ricans moving into to New Jersey were destroying her town. She hated signs in Spanish. Pretty interesting perspective from a person whose parents arrived to the U.S. on a boat, through Ellis Island, as opposed to a hospital in Jersey.

At my last Sons of Italy meeting I listened to a 15 minute argument over dinner from a man in his 80s and a woman in her 70s about how to prepare a particular recipe. I understand me a bit better now. No excuses, just tendencies. Not always wrong, but sometimes wrong.

One thing about me, that makes me a difficult person, is my tendency to overreact. A fly on the wall can be a controversy or a long discussion. Sometimes it gets me in trouble. I read a bunch into you saying, good morning D, are you having a good day? I walk away thinking, what did he/she really mean by that?

I don't have three steps to avoid overreacting on today's blog. Why? Because I don't know them. Maybe you have them. So where am I on the issue? More aware. That is my single point today. What tendencies get you in trouble? Start with the most obvious. You will find plenty of traction there!


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