The Soap Opera Relief

My roommate has fondly referred to my place of employment for some time now as "the soap opera."

Anyone who knows me well knows that my company has more than it's share of drama for such a small organization, and that we seem to attract all kinds of truly unique characters. Anyone who knows me well will also know that these tendencies have caused a rather high degree of stress in my life, especially over the last two years or so.

Thus, knowing those things, you'll understand why my mom totally cracked up, when, in the midst of a rather serious conversation we were having this evening, I somewhat dryly and sarcastically confessed, "Work was a welcome relief today. It was so nice to just focus on that for a bit and not think about all the other things." My mom, had the context of having phoned me at work first thing this morning, and caught me mid-way into my second meltdown of the day (within the first hour!), over things that have absolutely nothing to do with work. With that context, and her knowledge of all of the drama that my place of employment has encompassed, she found my comment particularly funny.

And it was funny to me too. For that moment we laughed together, before returning to the main conversation which once again had me in tears. The "soap opera" was a welcome relief! In fact, in some ways, that thought, and the memory of the conversation, of drawing that laughter with my tone, is still making me laugh. And tonight I definitely need the laugh!