Dotsie, Late Bloomer

When I was at work, I learned a great lesson from a lady named Sherri. She was in her early forties and I was in my late forties at the time. We were doing one of those task force things, and she was on my team. We had to make our presentation to my boss, Joe Nacchio, who went on to head Qwest and then led the buyout of U. S. West. We were a half day from having the presentation polished and buttoned up, but the show had to go on. Sherri had the market research part, so our flaws showed the most there. Well, Joe gave her a really hard time and I was furious. I tried to help, but wasn't very effective.

After the presentation, I apologized to Sherri and reinforced how angry I was. Sherri looked me in the eye and calmly said "Hey, don't worry about it. He can't get to me. As long as no one takes a shot at my husband and kids or the rest of my family, I'm ok. They're what's important to me, and I know it."

Every time I felt my self getting very upset at work, I repeated Sherri's wisdom to myself. It didn't always help, but often it did.

Carol K