Diamante Of The Day
"Nebach"
he said
but with kindness
as I slaved away
working at the copy machine
twenty minutes after he first passed
"Semichah prepared me for this"
I said and smiled,
hoping I'm not
ever a
nebach
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 12:32 PM
11 Comments:
why
do people
seem to think
they must find something
some silly pointless unilluminating comment
just more static filling the airwaves
to say when you're working?
so much better to
smile nod and
walk on
by.
_______________
I tried to center it, but blogger wouldn't accept the html code, so it's not a diamante shape.
If the person in question was calling you a nebach doing it with kindness would be an oxymoron. I am 99% sure that he was calling the situation a nebach situation and was trying to sympathize with you and surely not calling you a nebach! However, in the 1% case that I am wrong then I agree with you Kishke 100%!
rr: Oh, definitely. The person certainly meant as you say. I'm not saying he meant anything bad, but still, so many people have the annoying habit of commenting on every insignificant thing they see, as if light bulbs can't get changed and papers copied and bread toasted without their oh-so-important commentary.
I don't know Kishke, I hear you, I really do, but some people have a friendly genuine personality. They don't mean bad...really. Take it from me...I'm one of them. Some peole appreciate the little comment here and there and some don't. I know that I wouldn't comment on "every insignificant thing I see "like light bulbs not getting changed or bread toasted" but on the other I do try to be friendly! One should be careful to know their clientele and not to "bother" someone working, but on the other hand...
btw...this dialogue reminds me of a joke that my dad (mhlabw)told me. Rashi and his wife were getting ready to go out.
Rashi's wife comes into the room, and Rashi says to her "I think you might want to try on a different outfit - it might look a bit nicer. She responds..."Do you have to have a comment on everything?"
Thanks for the comments and dialogue guys. I very much enjoyed the discussion the poem prompted.
I really liked the Rashi joke.
To return to the comment issue, it reminds me of a practice I used to see in my yeshiva days. Say a worker showed up one day to dig a hole. Within five minutes, he'd have six yeshiva guys standing around watching him. Now, I know there's some yetzer hara involved - even watching someone else digging a hole suddenly becomes fabulously interesting when the alternative is learning, but it annoyed me nonetheless, b/c it the rapt hole-gazers were usually acting very much in character. I used to go crazy. Didn't these guys realize the hole could be successfully dug without their involvement? For me, the pointless comment connects to the hole-gazing. Some people just can't let the world's business be transacted without having something useless to say about it.
Kishke I hear you and a part of me agrees, while another part of me so much wants to let go. Let people say their comments, have their shtick, there are biggr fish to fry. This person certainly meant no harm, and possibly was being kind iand empathic.
BTW - I'm sorry that there are some back comments of yours I've not yet replied to. I'm always torn between writing new, and commening on past posts - while also doing life.
Neil, I agree with that too! In real life I do let go, and if the fellow would have made the comment to me, I would have smiled and made some polite comment back. That's what makes the world go round. Here I'm just venting.
And don't worry about past comments. The world moves on.
Letting go sounds easy but isn't always so (for me). Glad you can (or at least try to) let things slide in life, including when and if I comment back on comments.
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