I made someone cry today.

I don’t feel entirely responsible, and I don’t have guilt about the situation, but I am feeling a little ashamed that words I spoke evoked such a negative reaction in another human.

I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit since it occurred, replaying it in my mind, wondering if I should have handled it differently, and trying my hardest to put my empathetic skills to use to know how she may have been feeling during the exchange.

It was in a professional setting, and while I have certainly shed my share of tears at work, this was, from my perspective, a little dramatic, and slightly unnecessary. I know some of us have less control over our emotions than others, and I also know that sometimes our personal lives will interfere with our professional ones, but I also think that sometimes, we just need to get our $#!+ together.

I know first hand how difficult it is balancing a career and a family and health issues and life. It’s hard. And I try to be sympathetic to everyone’s stuff. Because everyone certainly has their stuff. But I also know what really hard stuff is.

I’ve survived child loss. Yes, I cry and whine about it. But surviving without my son is hard. And sometimes, when I’m in a situation, especially now, when I really do feel like, for the first time in a really long time, I’m finally getting it figured out, when people around me expect sympathy for stupid crap…they’re just not gonna get it from me.

My world – including my work, my home, my social circles, and my family – is a drama-free zone. And I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone interfere with that.