Fools rush in

I once had a nasty encounter with a vendor. I was very young and full of fire in my first management opportunity with a large paint company and had decided to write this guy a letter to vent my frustrations. I wrote a letter that was truly a work of art, (or something). You could have lit a cigarette off this letter because it was hot! I was very proud of it and decided to show it to my boss prior to sending it.

My boss, who had a full head of gray hair, carefully read it and when through reading it, he wadded it up and threw it in the waste can and turned around to me with a wry grin on his face. Incredulous that he had just destroyed my two hour effort, (remember this was prior to computers and Word and e-mail and I had first drafted this letter with pencil on a yellow legal pad and then “typed” it myself on a typewriter, and there was no saving it to a hard drive somewhere); I asked him what the heck he was doing.

“Bob”, he said, “You need to learn that when you get mad about something, you should sit down and write them a letter. In that letter tell them everything that you can think of that you dislike about them including even their family members if so desired. Tell them that you are through with them and that you will NEVER have anything to do with them again. And then throw the letter away. You will be glad that you did when you have time to think about it.”

The only time that I ever regretted that sage advice is when I did not take it and actually mailed one of those nasty letters, or worse had one of those discussions in person and irrevocably burned a bridge as a result. The Bible has several passages in it that reflect this policy. Burning bridges and venting are for fools and is not the Christian way. Learn this early. With the advent of constant connectivity and instant delivery of e-mail, one must be vigilant and always aware in order to avert disaster. Fools rush in but wise men, (and women) hold their tongue.

Proverbs 29:11
A fool vents all of his feelings,
But a wise man holds them
back.