I am irked. Oh don’t worry, it happens all the time. And this is the kind of irked that stems from nothing conclusive and goes nowhere but feeds the rats in my brain in the wee smalls. So I should really just have a cup of tea and go to bed. But first let me tell you about Truth to Face. While the kettle boils.

When I was younger I told my mother that I was not going to engage in small talk. It was pointless, insincere and usually an excuse to hide from what really should be being said. Yeah well, I matured a bit. Eventually I taught myself small talk like it was a second language. Not something native to me but discernable if you watched close enough. And possible to still be sincere about, just on a lighter level.

Even so, I never lost my intensity for relationships. It surfaces now as what I’ve come to call Truth to Face. There was a situation at work awhile back where a co-worker (also a friend) was working his way through his colleagues, trying to work the system. Essentially burning bridges. When he got to me everyone knew, and I told him so. Fortunately he took it well, we worked out a great solution and days later I got questioned at work ‘How did you manage that?!’

‘Um, I told him the truth, to his face.’

Pretty simple really. I didn’t complain about him to others, I didn’t hide my reluctance to help with excuses, I just told him the truth. To his face.

Truth to Face isn’t for the faint of heart. And it does not always work out well. But sometimes it helps. It helps quiet the rats, it helps cross off the regrets, it helps clarify relationships and sometimes it helps friends.

Tea time.