Sometimes, people don't tell me things that I should probably know. Like recently, when I went to say hello to a coworker, and two supervisors were standing next to her. The coworker saw me approaching and said, "Hey, what's up?" To which I replied, "I was just coming to show off my fabulous new shoes," which she then looked at, and began a conversation. This went on for a couple of minutes, with the supervisors also joining in the small talk, when I asked what she was doing. "I'm going to be the temporary supervisor," she said. "Oh, nice," I congratulated, then realized..."Oh, so...these guys are here to train you right now. Why didn't you say so?" I looked at the supervisors, "Why didn't either of you say anything?" They just laughed and said it was no big deal. Now, I didn't have much time to spend chatting anyway, since I was at work, but really...they could easily, and inoffensively, shooed me away because what they were doing was important, and I was awkwardly interrupting. This has happened before.
Once, long ago, when I lived in an apartment, I would have to use a laundromat
when I needed to do laundry. Laundromats require quarters. One day, I didn't have any quarters, so I called a friend to ask if I could please come over and borrow her washer and dryer, please, please since I was out of quarters. She agreed. I got there, started my laundry, and was ready to hang out with my friend, when it soon became apparent that she and her husband had recently been "discussing" something. Where here, the word "discussing", when presented in quotation marks, being the euphemism for "arguing about." Of course I didn't expect her to tell me that they had been arguing; she could have just said no to my coming over. But I know that she was just trying to help me out. This is a gesture I sincerely appreciate, but I certainly did not want to interrupt them if they needed to talk. Yet there I was...stuck there with wet laundry, entertaining myself while they talked privately in another room. Just being awkward old me.
I think a lot of people do this - they don't want to tell someone no, or seem rude by saying that it's not a good time for them. And, if I were a professional mind reader, they wouldn't have to say these things. Since I'm not, please tell me next time I inadvertently walk in on your team meeting - you don't even have to let me get my coffee and donut first.
