Seriously, Some Times It’s You

I recall once having lunch with a female colleague who was complaining vociferously for the millionth time about not advancing fast enough in the corporation. Her boss was a misogynist, he was always giving the best projects to the men in her department – who only had engineering degrees while she held both an engineering degree and a law degree – both from the University of Michigan! Bunch of chauvinist pigs (that term was still popular in the early 80’s).

As I mentioned, this was about the millionth lunch hour I’d spent listening to her whine about how much more educated, smarter and capable she was than all her co-workers, and how her superior intelligence and skills were overlooked simply because she was a woman. She had embraced the sisterhood of the traveling victims society long before it was so lucrative. Apparently mistaking me for a member of her sisterhood she seethed on and on about all the unfair exclusionary behavior her boss and male colleagues practiced, including never inviting her to join them for lunch. This was not a problem I encountered in my own department; not to boast, but I was a pretty popular lunch companion and in fact had passed up an invite to our Friday staff lunch in order to honor my prior commitment to Ms. Wendy of the Unwavering Whine.

So perhaps her complaint about never being invited to join the boys reminded me that I was missing the beer, pizza, jokes and good natured camaraderie that comprised Friday lunches back in the day. Whatever the reason, her complaint drew a rather direct (and, I acknowledge, probably insensitive) response: I heard myself saying to her  “maybe it’s nothing as pernicious as misogyny, maybe they just don’t like you.”  I can still see the stunned look on her face; she was a beautiful woman and quite smart but totally tone deaf to anyone other than herself. As a result she was quite lacking in the social graces.  I suspect nobody had ever spoken to her so bluntly in her entire life.

Anyway, I hadn’t thought of that long ago lunch for over 30 years but this story reminded me of it: 

Bill and Hillary Clinton made no secret of the fact they blame campaign staffers for her defeat in the presidential election, according to a new book about her failed bid.

“She was visibly, unflinchingly pissed off at us as a group,” an unnamed staffer said in the book, according to an excerpt obtained by The Hill. “And she let us know she felt that way.”

The book reveals the former secretary of state was full of excuses for why she faired poorly against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primary and President Donald Trump in the general election. Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes co-authored the book, titled “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign.”

Reportedly furious after a dismal showing in the primaries, Clinton manufactured multiple reasons for her performance. She blamed her former campaign director Robby Mook for not selecting the right travel stops and for spending heavily in the wrong areas…. 

“The underlying truth — the one that many didn’t want to admit to themselves — was the person ultimately responsible for these decisions, the one whose name was on the ticket, hadn’t corrected these problems. - Daily Caller

Yeah, seriously; sometimes it’s just you.

A blessed Good Friday to all believers:

I’ll be on the road the next few days, so play nice in the sandbox and don’t leave any “treats” behind for the dogs. Oh, and congrats on the arrival of new BooKitty, Boo! Just in time for Easter.

Linked By: iOTWREPORT, and Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!