Friday, October 19, 2007

The Blamer

The meeting was nearing the end of the agenda when the blamer made her report. The project that she had handled - mishandled would be more accurate - was turning out to be a disaster and so, being a blamer, she began to ascribe fault to others. This wasn't done and that wasn't done and I'll need a lot of support from the rest of you if we are to avoid serious embarrassment.

The woman who was the main target of the blamer's tirade sat quietly. She knew what everyone else in the room knew: The attack was a ridiculous ploy to evade responsibility. Her attempts to assist the blamer had been repeatedly ignored or neglected.

Had the blamer made her move at the beginning of the meeting, she probably would have been grilled and ground up for the hogs. Instead, a quick scan of the facial expressions revealed that a silent but firm decision had just been made. The blamer's moment was over. Her words had violated an unwritten code of the organization: One may be a bumbler and still survive and one may be a blamer and still survive, but being both is simply not allowed.

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