Sending Wine Home

You know the crazy you become when dealing with a controlling person? It is like this deep well of crazy you didn’t know you had. Sometimes it comes out when dealing with a sly half-truth person type too. The ones that tell you one thing one day and then flip the script a few days later.

Maddening!

But, especially with those manipulative controllers. You learn to stay just enough dumb and crazy so they have no idea how to hold you down. It’s glorious if you can keep them constantly perplexed. It’s the one time you are truly glad they call you dumb or crazy.

That’s the way it was. I could tell almost instantly he was one of “those” types. Luckily, my early 20s naïveté had been burned enough to know very well. The key is to get out without too much residual. Then, when you see it again in early red flags……put on the show because if he knows you are smart….you are done for.

It is so odd to me that someone could be so cruel but my friend told me one time that if I could be so nice, there are also genetics that make a brain chemistry cruel. There are always opposites in this crazy world. I didn’t believe her at the time. Now, I do.

He trapped me into conversation at the meeting that evening where I couldn’t quite get out so I just threw him a couple of curveballs of thought and waited for his response. He was pretty good at batting them back but his red flag alert went off too and he quickly calmed his demeanor with me.

I knew I had to meet with him again next week so I decided to just keep my distance until then.

I swung by the wine store on the way home to get my mind off the reality of dealing with officemates. Decided to pick up a Bordeaux so I could feel smart again after all that playing dumb for the day. And I had to figure out how to wiggle my way back into a power position without setting off his alarm bells. The hardest part is getting what you want without them realizing what or how you did it. And sometimes you just have to take your losses because the long term payback game is too exhausting.

I decided I would be better off taking a loss and avoiding everything all together. He was pretty prominent in the community and super charming. Everyone loved him. Those are the most dangerous ones. I figured my odds would be better if I took a loss on this and waited for another opportunity without his paws in it.

Safely at home, I cooked up some stew that had been marinating for a couple of days and breathed a sigh of relief with my evening glass of wine. The wine always made me feel smarter. Especially if I had taken time to make a smart choice at the local store. I always had my favorite owners that knew which wines I would really get a lot out of. It is the relationships along the way that really make for a beautiful life. Just have to weave your way around the “n’er do wells” that show up sometimes.